White Feathers
by Demyn
Summary: Rowen's an angel. And its driving Sage passionately, but outrageously, insane! What his anger won't drive out, desire will. Does Rowen return? Or is he forever banned from the world... and from Sage? RowenxSage. R&R!
1. Past

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

Sage sprinted down his driveway and into the darkened path leading into the woods, tears streaming down his face. The snow was cold as it stung his wet cheeks, but Sage didn't care. He didn't care that he was two feet deep in snow. He just didn't care anymore.

Ryo gazed out the window, his own tears welling up his eyes so much that all he could see was blotches of color. He pressed his palm against the cold windowpane, a shiver coasting down his spine, and burst into a storm of tears. 

Mia was crunched between Kento's strong arms, embracing her in the tightest bear hug. She didn't care though. But it was only a small comfort in her overwhelming depression. 

Cye was rocking back and forth in the rocking chair, taking deep breaths, the phone still in his trembling hand. He was so crushed that he didn't even pick up the dead tone of the receiver. _"Rowen... gone? No. It can't be."_

-~-~*~-~-

Sage came to a shivering holt as he stood before the ice coated lake. He wanted so much to bring Rowen back. He wanted it so much that he would take his own life to bring him back. Sage blinked away the last of his tears as he sat himself down on the dock. _"Why, Rowen? Why now!?" _Sage dropped his weary eyes down to the lake's surface. He grabbed his knees and pulled them up to his chest.

"ROWEN!" He screamed, breaking down into tears, "ROWEN! COME BACK, DAMMIT! I FUCKING LOVED YOU SO MUCH!" Sage started rocking himself back and forth, "so... much..."

He stopped and looked at the water again. Biting his lip, he pressed his foot against the surface, breaking through. "Rowen..." he whispered, leaning forward off the dock. "I loved you so much, so much..." Sage took one last sigh before he closed his eyes and slipped off the dock. 

As his body smacked against the ice cold water, he instantly drifted off to a state of shock. His memory flew through his head....

:~*~*~*~:

Rowen sighed with a small smile as he pulled into Sage's driveway, turning off the ignition and getting out of his car. He didn't even take two steps when Sage came flying out of the front door. 

Sage walked up to him, shot him a teasing smile, and licked his smooth lips. Then he grabbed Rowen's arms, pulling him into a tight hug. 

"Gods, Sage," Rowen whispered in his ear, "I missed you."

Sage tauntingly bit Rowen's ear, "I missed you too, Love."

Rowen pulled away slightly and looked in Sage's violet eyes. "You know that I can only stay for a week..."

Sage leaned in and softly brushed Rowen's nose with his own, "Then we'll just have to make every day count." 

Rowen smiled softly as his lips gently met Sage's. He brought his hand up behind Sage's head and playfully tugged at his blonde hair. 

As they pulled away, Sage bit his bottom lip and brushed the side of Rowen's face. "Why do you always taste like peppermints?"

Rowen laughed and stuck out his tongue, showing what was left of his mint. Sage chuckled and bit his tongue, taking the mint into his mouth. 

Rowen gave a surprised sigh and bit Sage's lip in return.

"Mmm, my mint now."

Rowen laughed and pushed Sage's shoulder as they walked towards the house, stomping their feet through the snow. 

They walked through the front door, Rowen greeted by three other 'hello's' and 'what's up'. Rowen gave Ryo, Cye, and Kento all hugs.

"So how's school going, Ro?" Kento asked, smacking him on the shoulder. 

Rowen smiled, rubbing his arm, "It's going rather well. I'm about two months away from my Master's degree."

Sage smiled in slight surprise. "Wow."

"But you're on this break, so it'll give you some time to relax before finals though, right?" Ryo asked, biting his bottom lip as he slipped a smile.

Rowen nodded, "Yeah. But that's also why I can't stay longer. I gotta get back and start studying again," he said with a small sigh.

"Oh come on, Ro! You can stay as long as you want!" Sage shouted, "You know I wouldn't mind."

Rowen ran his tongue along his bottom lip, grinning. "Yeah, I could..."

Cye shook his head, groaning. "Rowen, you can't just throw your degree away! I'd rather see you get this all over with, THEN come back to us."

Ryo and Kento nodded in agreement.

Rowen chuckled. "Yeah, you do have a point. But I promise all of you, that the minute I receive

my Master's, I WILL be here."

Everyone smiled.

Sage grabbed Rowen's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "Alright. But NOW can I show you my present?"

"SAGE! Christmas is two days away!" Cye yelled, shaking a finger at him. "Can't it wait?"

"No, you know that he's going to see it anyways."

Rowen shifted an eyebrow, "What is going on?"

"Just follow me, Ro." Sage started walking towards the stairwell, his hips shaking in a sexy gesture as he pointed at him to follow.

Rowen smiled softly as he chuckled, following Sage towards the staircase and up the railing. Sage kept at a faster pace, making sure Rowen's long legged strides couldn't catch him. 

Sage finally dipped into a room, Rowen's old room, and turned off the light.

Rowen, with a raised eyebrow, followed the Ronin of Halo into the dark room. "Okay, Sage... would you mind telling me what's up?"

Sage suddenly slipped behind Rowen, taking his hands in his, "Rowen, I've waited so long to show you this, yet worked so hard on it..." he started, whispering in his ear. Sage brushed his lips against Rowen's earlobe as he reached behind him to flick on the light. 

Rowen gasped as he could finally see his room. "My gods... Sage!" Rowen turned on his heel and embraced Sage. Only after five seconds, Rowen let go and turned to look at his room again. The whole bedroom was painted in a space aura. It was mostly midnight blue, but there was stars everywhere, and in the corner of the room was the outline of the planets. 

"It's beautiful, Sage..." Rowen looked up at the ceiling, noticing more painted stars. "I can't believe you!"

Sage chuckled. "Merry half Christmas."

Rowen arched his eyebrow, "Half Christmas?"

"Yeah. I still have the one present to give you at Christmas, Love."

Rowen smirked, "Whatever!" He gestured behind him, "This is ALL I need, Sage! This and your love of course."

Sage blushed, "You'll always have that." he purred. 

"So why could I ask anymore of you?"

Sage bit his bottom lip and smiled, "Because I love you."

Rowen bit his tongue and walked into Sage's embrace. "Well..." he started with a blissful sigh, "then I can understand."

Sage smiled and held Rowen in his arms. 

-~-~*~-~-

"HEY!" Kento screamed up the stairs, "KIDS! Dinner is READY!"

"Okay!" came a scream back.

Kento chuckled to himself and waltzed back into the kitchen, seating himself at the table.

Not a second after they started eating, Sage and Rowen walked into the kitchen, grim smiles on their faces.

"What were you guys doing?" Ryo asked, shoving a forkful of food in his mouth.

"We were talking... ya know, catching up on old times." Rowen replied, sitting himself down in an empty seat next to Sage.

Sage ran a hand through his hair as he grabbed a plate of food. "Yeah, nothing really."

"So how's Mia doing?" Rowen asked Ryo, a grin on his face.

Ryo slightly shrugged, "Working as always. She's never NOT on the computer."

"Isn't she supposed to come down here for Christmas?" Cye asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Ryo nodded, "She heading up here tomorrow afternoon... _hopefully_."

Sage chuckled, "Well, at least we all get to see each other."

Everyone nodded. Then a moment of silence passed through, only the clatter of forks and spoons hitting the plates and mouths chewing bites of food.

After dinner, everyone went into the family room. Ryo started a fire while Cye made cups of hot chocolate. Sage and Rowen were seated on a couch, cuddled and kept warm by a blanket. Kento sat in the chair across from them, gazing out the window as it started to snow. 

"Ya know..." Kento started, taking his gaze off the window and directing it to his friends, "Isn't there supposed to be this huge snow storm coming up tomorrow?"

Cye walked into the room, nodding as his munched on a gingerbread cookie, "Yes, it's supposed to be pretty big."

Ryo plopped himself down next to Sage and Rowen and put his arms around them, "All the better to stay in here and keep warm!"

Rowen and Sage laughed. "We get to sleep in and drink hot chocolate all day."

Cye shook a bottle of peppermint vodka, "And maybe have a little fun."

A wave of laughter rippled through the room.

"We'll start the party as soon as it's tomorrow," Kento replied, chuckling. "But until then," he paused to yawn, "I'm going to bed."

"Me too." Ryo cracked his knuckles and stood up, then stretched to the ceiling. "Gods, I'm so sore." he mumbled, "All that fucking shoveling..."

Sage and Rowen laughed to themselves, watching Ryo head up the stairs.

"So what are you guys gonna do?" Cye asked, picking up all the empty mugs. 

Rowen grabbed the last gingerbread cookie and stuck it in his mouth, "Mmm."

Sage laughed, "Nothing right now, Cye."

"All right." he smiled. Then taking all the cups into the kitchen, he came back out and said, "I'm going to bed, too. See you in the morn."

"G'night, Cye." Sage waved. 

"So," Rowen pursed his lips, "Since we are the only ones up now, what is there to do?"

Sage shrugged, "I don't know." He sighed and burrowed himself into the blanket. 

Rowen smiled, "Are you getting tired?"

Sage made a muffled groan.

Rowen chuckled and got underneath the blanket to find Sage. He laid down behind him and grabbed his arms, sighing sweetly as he got comfortable. 

Sage closed his eyes and let a warm grin pass over his face. "I'm so happy that you're back," he said in a tone just above a whisper.

Rowen moved so that his lips were touching the back of Sage's neck, "Me too." Then Rowen mouthed the words _'I love you' _against Sage's skin. 

Sage gave Rowen's hands a squeeze back and pressed his body closer to Rowen. They both laid on the couch, kept warm by the blanket and each other until they both drifted off into a deep sleep. 

~*~

Well, that's chapter one. More drama and suspicion to come in the next 'episode'.


	2. To the present

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

Ryo, with a horrendous smile plastered on his face, ran and jumped over the couch. He dropped his body on Sage and Rowen who were fast asleep. 

"Aaaarhg!" Rowen groaned, "What the fuckin- RYO!"

"Dammit, Ryo!" Sage pushed the laughing Ryo off onto the floor. "What the hell is your problem?"

Ryo smirked, "Guys, its one in the afternoon."

A girlish chuckle echoed in the back-round. 

Rowen and Sage turned to meet eyes with Mia. 

"Mia!" They both screamed, lunging themselves in her direction. 

Mia stumbled back a few steps as she was attacked with a pair of bear hugs. "It's nice to see you guys too!" She retorted, trying her best to hug them back. "Happy Christmas Eve."

"Same to you." Rowen replied.

Mia took another step backward, letting her eyes glaze over the two Ronins. She smiled heartily, "You guys look absolutely wonderful."

"So do you, Mia." Rowen replied, "When _was _the last time we saw each other?"

Mia looked at the ceiling, squinting her eyes, "I think it was before you left for school."

"That was forever ago," Ryo put in, helping himself up from the ground.

"Are you guys ready for some hot chocolate?" Cye asked, walking into the den with a tray of mugs. "It's special hot chocolate for this very special evening!" 

Sage grabbed a mug and took a sip, making a face as the tingle of peppermint vodka ran down his throat. "It's got a bite to it," he replied, taking another sip.

Kento chugged half his mug and licked his lips, "Its very good though!"

Rowen and Cye laughed and took a chug of their own. 

A rather uneventful night followed, talks around the fire and the bottle of peppermint vodka gone within hours. 

Kento licked the rim of the empty vodka bottle, "Dudes! We need more!"

Ryo looked across the room at all his friends, "How many did all you have?"

Sage held up his fingers and counted 10, "It feelsss like I have that mucch."

Rowen shrugged, "I only had 2."

Kento jumped up, "Go to the store and get some more!" He jerked back, "Hey, that rhymes! Go to the store and get some more! Go to the store and get some more!"

Ryo laughed. "You're a dumb-ass."

Cye chuckled but the paused to bite his lip, "That's not really a good idea, Kent. On a serious note anyways."

"Why not? He'ss the most sober-est of us all."

Ryo nodded, "Yesh."

Rowen nodded, "I'll go as long as I get first dibs on it when I get back!"

A round of cheers replied.

Sage grabbed the car keys and met Rowen at the door. "Ro," Sage started softly, "Please be careful."

Rowen nodded, "I promise, Sage." Rowen smiled in a reassuring way, giving Sage's hand a gentle squeeze. 

Sage smirked and leaned forward quickly, catching Rowen off-guard in a lip-locking kiss. After a moment, Rowen pulled away and reached for the door handle.

"I see you in a little bit, love."

Sage grinned, "Yep!" He waved until Rowen closed the door behind him. Then he sighed and walked back into the family room, plopping himself down in a chair.

Cye gritted his teeth and pulled a hand through his thin wavy hair. "Someone shudda went with him."

Kento shrugged, "Nah, he'll be FINE!"

Cye looked out the window and watched the tail lights disappear into the darkness. "I hope so."

-~-~*~-~-

Sage bobbed his head, catching himself before he drifted off into sleep. He sat up, looking around the room and realizing that everyone else was fast asleep. All except for Cye.

Sage sat up, "Cye..." he moaned and rubbed his head, a little headache scratching its nails against his forehead, "What time is it?"

"Almost one."

"What's out the window?" Sage asked, looking at Cye leaning against the windowpane. 

"Rowen's not home."

Sage felt his whole body jerk, "Wh-what?!"

Cye nodded softly. 

Sage rushed up to the window and looked out. All he could see was a glaze of white. Millions and trillions of snow. "Oh-my-god-"

"I said someone should have gone with!" Cye almost screamed, tears forming along his bottom eyelids.

Sage rubbed his eyes and groaned, "This can't be happening..." He ran to the front door and pounced into the snow, "ROWEN!" he screamed. He stopped and listened his voice echo through the trees. He shivered. "Rowen.... Rowen, where are you?"

"Sage, please come back inside," Cye called from the front porch. "We have to stay calm." Cye suddenly acquired a new monotone sort of voice. 

Sage vigorously bit down on his bottom lip and reluctantly returned inside. He got in and closed the door behind him, then matched his weary eyes with Ryo's.

"Someone should call that store." Cye spoke up. "Never-mind, I'll do it." He reached and grabbed the phone, flipping widely through the phone book. He dialed the number and waited. 

"Yes... hello? .... Do you know a man who might of came in... had blue hair and eyes.... yes..... Are you for sure? .... ok, thank you." Cye hung up the phone slowly.

"Well?" Ryo charged.

"He said that he was in a long time ago... like 11:30."

Sage subconsciously brought a hand over his mouth. "_No._"

Ryo sighed heavily and rubbed his temples, "Well, look on the bright side, maybe he's stuck in traffic and just jamming to his music, waiting to get home."

"Traffic? At this fucking hour?"

"Hey," Ryo glared his blues into Sage's violet ones, "I'm trying to be cool about it."

Sage rolled his tongue along the inside of his teeth and looked back out the window. 

"Maybe we should start to get everyone up." Cye said, glancing over at Kento, who was crashed on the floor and Mia, who slept soundly on the couch. 

"Someone needs to go out there and look-"

"Sage," Ryo bellowed, "Don't let it even _cross _your mind. You know VERY well that the snowstorm is a bitch and we don't want to have to worry about Rowen AND you."

Sage whipped around and glared at Ryo, "At least I'm trying to help! I'm not sitting there thinking he's stuck in traffic at one in the morning!" 

"God dammit, Sage! I AM trying to keep you from losing your mind! You think too _crazy_ sometimes and you can't control yourself!"

"But I will RISK my fucking life for him, Ryo!" Sage roared back, "You can never understand what I will-"

"What you will do?! You're gonna kill yourself, that's what you're gonna do!" Ryo screamed, slamming his fist on the wall. 

"Guys, we don't need to fight over this," Mia mumbled, her sleep disturbed by the boys yelling. "Rowen is fine."

"But I want to find out!" Sage cried, an emotion to big to swallow forcing itself into his eyes. "I love him... I need to know..."

Cye collapsed his body into a chair and sighed, "We just have to wait, Sage. That's how we're going to find out."

Sage groaned, "NO!" He stumbled towards the doorway, "I'm leavin-"

Ryo grabbed a strong hold of Sage's shoulder and pushed him aside, "You're not going until you get through me."

Sage locked his eyes with Ryo's and growled, "Ryo, if you don't move..."

"Lemme guess, you're going to punch me."

Sage couldn't help but laugh. He laughed and laughed.

"What the hell is so funny?" Ryo asked, crossed his arms over his chest.

Sage stopped and closed his eyes, "This," Sage pulled back his fist and swung it at Ryo. But instead of hitting him, he fiercely grabbed Ryo's shirt by the collarbone and tore him away from the doorway, shoving him into a table.

Ryo fell and broke the table into pieces. He shouted out in pain when he lifted his arm up, one shard piece of wood imbedded into his elbow. 

Sage took one last look at Ryo's face before he guided himself towards the door. 

But then the phone rang.

:~*~*~*~:

Sage threw his eyes open as he struggled for air. The water was so cold and so much pressure was forced into his lungs that he thought they were going to explode. He struggled, wildly thrashing his arms and legs, trying helplessly to grab onto something. Anything. 

Then his foot hit something solid. He hit his foot against it again and pushed himself upwards. It gave him enough leverage to break for air. But it was only enough time for him to catch a breath before he sank back down again. 

The cold water was pulling him towards his watery grave and no matter how hard he thought he tried, he couldn't help himself away from the unwanted death. Then there was a light. 

-~-~*~-~-

"Sage! Sage!" Cye and Ryo ran down the path towards the lake, flashlights in hand, reflecting all the snowflakes and making it hard for them to see. Before they knew it, they were already at the waters edge.

"SAGE!" Ryo called, his voice hoarse with crying and yelling. 

The both stopped and listened. Nothing.

"This _cannot _be happening!" Cye screamed, taking in huge breaths of air. "He didn't do it, he couldn't have!" Cye cried, flashing his flashlight on the ice's surface. 

Ryo couldn't help from crying. "No, Sage!"

Ryo heard it first. It was low and hard to pick up over the echo and whistles of the wind, but he was positive. 

"Sage!" Ryo called, heading towards the sounds of coughing. He ran over to the dock and found Sage. He was huddled in a little ball, shivering. 

"Oh-my-gods!" Cye ran to help Ryo. They both bent over the shocked and freezing boy, trying their best to help him. Ryo tore off his sweatshirt and wrapped it around Sage as tight as he could.

"Sage, what the hell happened? How did you fall in?!"

Sage kept coughing and shook his head.

"Well, come on. We gotta get him warm before he gets frostbite," Cye mumbled, picking up Sage by the shoulders. "Help me."

Sage took a deep welcomed breath and calmed down a tone. He blinked a couple times, coming back into reality. 

Cye stopped, "Sage, are you alright?"

"Yeee-ah-ah..." he muttered, shivering. 

"Okay, good." Cye helped him sit up and onto his feet.

Sage turned around to look at the hole he fell through. The water was dark and eerie looking, but something out the corner of his bloodshot violet eyes caught his attention. He grabbed Ryo's flashlight and shined it on the hole. There, floating on the waters surface, were two white feathers.

~*~

*grins* ... Hmmmmm.... 


	3. Could I be dreaming?

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

Sage caught himself not breathing. He was too shocked.

Ryo and Cye were dumbfounded. "Why the hell are there freaking feathers right there!?" Ryo asked, getting even more freaked out by the second.

Cye creased his brow with worry, "I don't know, but Ryo, we gotta get him inside."

-~-~*~-~-

Kento took one look at Sage and got angry. So angry that you could see it. "SAGE!? Are you _fucking_ stupid or something?!" Kento screamed, waving his arms in the air. "We don't need BOTH of you dead!"

Ryo glared at the Ronin of Hardrock, "Kento, don't."

Kento just exhaled noisily and squeezed his eyes shut, "Just stay away."

Sage, shivering, sat down on the couch. Cye stood next to him and ripped off his ice-cold shirt and put on him a clean, warm sweatshirt. Cye also threw a towel over Sage's head and rubbed his hair dry.

"There. Are you feeling better, Sage?"

Sage nodded faintly. He kept nodding until he burst into a storm of tears, sobs, and wails. "My... my Rowen...."

Seeing Sage cry made just about everyone cry again. Cye sat down next to him and tried his best to comfort his poor friend with a hug. Ryo clenched his fists as angry tears streamed down his cheeks. He couldn't take in the fact that Rowen was dead. No one could. 

About an hour or so later, all the Ronin's were asleep. They were all overcome with emotion, stress, and irritability. Sage and Cye were passed out on the couch, Ryo was sleeping in the chair and Kento was in bed. Mia was also upstairs in one of the other bedrooms. 

Ryo twitched in his sleep, waking himself up. He blinked a couple of times, getting his sore eyes adjusted to the light of day. He sat up and stretched, his body weak and limp from spending all night seated in a hard chair. Ryo yawned, _"I hope Sage makes this day go by easier..." _he thought to himself.

Ryo didn't take more than three steps into the kitchen when he heard someone behind him. It was Sage.

"Hey, morning." Ryo replied, trying to smile despite the gloomy appearance plastered on Sage's face.

Sage faked a weak smile, "Ryo, I'm sorry."

Ryo arched a brow, "For what?"

Sage pointed to Ryo's arm. "That."

"Gods, Sage. Forget about it."

Sage's eyebrows creased and tears formed in his eyes, "I'm lost, Ryo. What are we gonna do?" he replied, his voice cracking under his hoarse throat. 

Ryo didn't take another breath before he stepped into Sage, embracing him. "Don't cry. You're just making it harder on yourself, Sage!" Ryo squeezed his arms around him tighter. "But I can tell you something that will make you better..." Ryo pulled Sage back so he could look into his eyes. "We are all here for you and we love you just as much if not the same as you had for Rowen." 

Sage bit his bottom lip as he brought out a smile. "I know."

"Good." Ryo gave him another hug. "But I do have one question,"

Sage broke away and sat down at the table, "What's that?"

"What happened.... you know, at the lake?"

Sage shrugged, "I really can't tell you. I want to, but I really don't know _what_ happened." 

Ryo licked his lips. "Because no one was out there. I just want to know who found you and pulled up on the dock."

Sage shook his head, "I'm sorry. I just don't know. I blacked out when I fell in the water and when I woke up I was still in the water, and I pushed myself off the bottom and after that..." Sage paused, "I woke up on the dock and you and Cye were there. That's all I know."

"And those feathers... unless there's a fucking bird flying around in the snow storm, there is no explanation."

Sage nodded, "Don't know."

Ryo sighed, giving up and started to make a pot of tea. 

Cye walked in about ten minutes later and plopped his seemingly heavy body next to Sage. He groaned softly, "Is everyone okay?"

Ryo nodded as he poured himself a cup of black tea. "Yeah. We all just need to chill out today."

Sage sighed, making a noise in agreement. 

"Ryo, pour me a cup," Cye retorted.

Sage sighed, "Me too."

"Does anyone know what time it is?" Ryo asked, looking around the room, trying to find a clock.

"A quarter to noon." Cye replied, glancing at his wrist watch. He looked up at the ceiling as he heard rustling. "I bet that's Kento."

A few moments later, Kento stumbled downstairs. He was in his clothes from last night, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair was messed up, and to top it all off, the blue and purple bags under his eyes drooped down to his cheekbone.

"Damn, Kento," Ryo started, "You look like you didn't sleep at all."

He rubbed his eyes and pushed back his unruly bangs, "Yeah, I didn't," he replied, a cocky tone trailing in his voice. Kento stopped at one of the cupboards and grabbed a cereal box. He poured himself a bowl and sat down at the table.

"Are you guys okay? Did you guys sleep alright?" Kento started, twirling his spoon in the cereal.

Sage nodded slowly, "Yeah, we're doing okay."

"Gods... I still wanna know how you got outta there, Sage." Ryo mumbled, hitting the countertop. "It's so fucked up."

"What happened?" Kento asked, taking a bite of his food.

"Sage fell into the lake and he doesn't remember how or who got him out. All he remembers is waking up on the dock."

"AND there were _feathers _floating in the hole through the ice." Ryo commented.

Kento stopped eating, "What the fuck?"

Sage nodded firmly, "Don't ask, though. I have no clue."

Kento took a deep breath and exhaled with the same amount of force. "Gods." he pushed his full cereal bowl away from him, "I'm not even hungry anymore."

-~-~*~-~-

It was somewhere in-between 10:30 and 11 at night when Sage aroused from his light sleep he was taking in Rowen's bedroom. He blinked his eyes open, gazing around the moonlighted room. He had to bit his lip to keep from losing himself like he did before, then rolled over into the damp puddle of tears he had cried on the pillow an hour ago. He snorted and grabbed the pillow, flipping it around anxiously, not wanting to ever remember or go back to that emotion again.

He sighed, and closed his eyes. _"Why can't I fall asleep and STAY asleep?"_ he asked himself. He rolled over onto his back and stared at the window shadow across the room. He listened peacefully to the wind blowing through the trees and every once and a while, a small echo of a lone wolf cry. Sage grabbed his forehead and shut his eyes. 

Sage was just about to drift off into sleep when the sound of someone stomping through snow woke up him and woke him up fast. It was right out his window. 

Sage bolted out of the bed and ran to the window. He scanned the scene like he was some hungry eagle scouting for prey. But what he interpreted to be the noise of someone walking through the snow, he found out that he was right. There was a trail of footprints leading up to his window down below. He could see them very well because of the moonlight and their freshness. But one odd thing stuck him; they stopped just below his window and there was no more. No more footprints suggesting that the person left. 

_"Where the hell are you?!" _Sage rasped to himself, eagerly looking around in all directions. But he didn't find that person. _"What the hell is going on?" _

Sage jumped about 5 feet in the air when something hit the roof right above him. "Shit!" he cursed to himself. He waited, listening as whatever it was took a coupled of steps towards where the window was. Then it stopped. 

Sage stood there, paralyzed in fear. He stared at the window, expecting whatever it was to drop down in front of it. He waited anxiously, so anxiously that he could feel his heart throbbing in his throat. Something flickering against the moonlight just above the window caught his eye. He took one step forward, wondering what it could be. 

A single feather floated down in front of the window, followed by another one. They were white, almost exactly like the ones Sage had seen in the lake. 

Sage couldn't take it anymore. He ran to the window and opened it.


	4. Angel

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

He looked up at the roof top. There was nothing there. But the snow that would have normally formed in a rounded shape on top, was crushed, like someone had sat there. Sage breathed heavily, completely flabbergasted. "What the hell is going on? Who is up there?!" Sage said to himself. Waiting about 2 seconds more, he pulled his head inside and closed the window, then locked it. He turned around and headed for the bed while pulling a hand through his messy locks. 

Then he saw him.

It was Rowen. 

Sage flipped. He fell onto his feet, bumped his head on the wall, and started to scream. 

Rowen bit his lip and tried to get Sage to be quiet. He motioned his hands over his mouth and tried to shush him. To Rowen's surprise, it worked.

Sage looked into Rowen's eyes with tears streaming down his cheeks, "R-Rowen?" He squeaked, "is... is that really you?" Sage reached a hand out to try and touch Rowen's face as he sat down next to him.

Rowen nodded. He grabbed Sage's hand and pressed it hard against the side of his face and cried. "I'm so sorry, Sage. I'm sorry!"

"What happened to you?" Sage asked, the hint of fear and confusion bubbling in his throat. "Please, Rowen! Tell me what happened!"

Rowen took a deep breath. "Sage... I don't know."

Sage's eyes filled with tears again. "Rowen, I don't know what to do with myself anymore! Please stay with me! Stay with me forever!"

Rowen bit down on his trembling lip and didn't say anything for a long time. Then he matched his face with Sage's and shone his crystal blue eyes into a pair of clear violet ones, "Sage, I love you." He leaned forward, gently pushing his nose against Sage's. He looked up at Sage's eyes once before completely contacting his lips with Sage's baby soft ones. 

Sage immediately broke down, wailing into Rowen's mouth. He broke away and covered his eyes with his quivering hands. 

Rowen moved closer to him and wrapped his long arms around Sage's body. He bent his head down next to Sage and pressed his lips against his ear. "Sage," Rowen started, whispering, "I'm perfectly fine. Please don't weep for me. I love you too much, you know I hate seeing you like this."

Sage tried to calm down. He took a deep broken breath and removed his hands from his face. "Ro, I love you too, but... why?" he replied in a soft voice.

Rowen licked his bottom lip, "Because someone has to watch out for you." Rowen forced a small smile on his lips, "And that someone happens to be me." Rowen kissed Sage gently, but Sage shivered, quickly breaking their lip-lock.

"Why are you so cold?" Sage asked, touching his lips, feeling for frost-bite.

Rowen sighed, "Sage, do I really have to tell you?"

Sage looked down, "... No."

Rowen took another deep breath, "Sage, please... don't be depressed. I'm always here, always. I will never-ever leave your side." Rowen paused and brought his lips against Sage's cheek. "You're my baby."

Sage could feel that tingle in his nose when he knew he was going to cry. "You promise?" he rasped.

"I promise." Rowen then brought his arm around to Sage's back and his other under Sage's legs and he picked him up, carrying him over to the bed. Once there, he gently laid Sage down and pulled the covers over him. "Now, please, get some sleep. You're ruining your beauty," Rowen smiled, tucking one of Sage's wild locks behind his ear. 

Sage closed his eyes. "Rowen, please stay here until I fall asleep."

"It's done," Rowen replied, walking around the bed and getting in next to him. He wrapped his arms around Sage's back and pressed his cold forehead against Sage's. Sage hunched his shoulders and inched himself closer to Rowen's chest, seeking comfort. 

"I love you too, Rowen."

-~-~*~-~-

Sage yawned, waking himself up. He rolled over and reached for Rowen, but when his arm hit the bed, he realized that he wasn't there. Sage sat up, _"Was that all a dream?" _He scanned the bedroom. There was nothing that would've hinted last night. The covers were only messed up where Sage was sleeping. The window was still locked. 

Sage sighed and got out of bed. He started to walk out the door, but then he stepped on something fuzzy. He looked down and found a feather attached to his foot. 

Sage gawked, _"Rowen? Maybe it wasn't a dream!"_ he smiled to himself and walked quickly into the bathroom.

About half an hour later, Sage came out clean and dry for the day. He waltzed downstairs and into the kitchen, heading straight to the refrigerator.

Cye arched an eyebrow, "Are you alright, Sage?" he asked, noticing his perkiness. 

Sage hummed as he poured himself a glass of orange juice. "Mmm-hmm."

Cye turned his worried look over to Ryo who returned him the same glance. 

"What's going on, Sage?"

He stopped humming to take a gulp of his drink, "Nothing. I'm just in a better mood today."

"Well _that's _obvious," Ryo retorted, waving a hand in the as if to emphasize his point. "What the hell? Are you on drugs or something? How are you _happy_?"

Sage snorted, "No, I'm not on drugs!" Sage paused to finish his juice. "Sorry that I'm happy that Rowen's alright."

Ryo and Cye exchanged startled looks, "What was that about Rowen?!"

"I talked to him last night. He said he's fine."

Cye walked over to Sage and put his hand on Sage's forehead, "Are you feeling alright? Because you sure don't _sound_ alright."

Sage raised his eyebrow, "I'm fine, Cye." With that said, he left the room, walking towards the front door.

"Do you think something clicked in his head?" Ryo asked, running a hand through his hair.

Cye sighed in worry, "I hope he hasn't lost it..."

-~-~*~-~-

After dinner, Sage cleaned his plate and set in the sink. He took a deep breath and headed outside.

Cye looked at Ryo and nodded his head over to Sage's direction. Ryo bit the inside of his cheek and followed Sage out to the front porch. He got out there and found Sage seated on the porch stairs, his head cupped in his hands.

"Sage, are you sure you're okay?" Ryo started, sitting himself next to his friend.

Sage nodded harshly, "Yes, I'm fine. How many times to I have to tell you guys? I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine!"

Ryo sighed quickly, "Sage, I'm just worried, okay? You were saying that you talked to Rowen, but he's dead." Ryo paused to catch himself. "No one can change that."

"That doesn't mean that he can't be okay!" Sage shot back. "You know those feathers that we keep finding?"

Ryo pursed his lips together, "Lemme guess, Rowen's an angel-"

"God dammit, Ryo!" Sage stood up and stared him in the face, "Why don't you guys just believe me! I saw him last night, I know I did! I'm not crazy!"

"Well, that's really hard to believe because in everyone else's opinion, we think you've lost it-"

Sage groaned, "I'm not! Do you want proof!? HERE'S your fucking proof!" Sage reached in his pocket and ripped out the feather that he found on the floor in his bedroom, "_That_ was in my room this morning!"

Ryo had to bit his lip to keep from laughing, "Sage, that's not proof. We have feather pillows, it probably came from that-"

"NO it didn't!" he screamed. "This one is different!"He tried to shove it into Ryo's hands, but Ryo just pushed his hands away.

"Sage, you've fucking lost it! Just because Rowen isn't here anymore, it doesn't give you ANY reason to lose yourself! You're crazy!"

Sage stared hard into Ryo's tiger blue eyes, clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles were white, "Ryo," he stated, softy, "I'm not crazy. Rowen is still here and I still love him-"

"Sage," Ryo sighed angrily, "No. I'm not going to let you-" Ryo stopped, crying out as Sage gave a quick punch. 

Ryo doubled over and grabbed his jaw, cursing. "Sage!" 

Sage bit his bottom lip as tears ran down his face, "Ryo, leave me the _fuck _alone. I'm NOT crazy and I'm NOT going to take anymore of your bullshit!" Sage waited for an answer.

Ryo slowly stood up and wiped the blood from him lip. With tears in his eyes, he said, "Sage, I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to help you. You've let yourself get way over your head. I'm worried _sick_." 

Sage let one sob climb out from his throat, "I can't deal with this right now," he whispered. Then he slowly turned on one heel and walked down the driveway towards his path to the lake.

Ryo wiped a icy tear from his cheek and turned to head up to the house. But right as he turned, something gleaming on the ground caught his attention. He turned and walked towards it, then picked it up. It was the feather Sage tried to give him. As Ryo twirled it between his fingers, it caught light, reflecting a spectrum of colors. Ryo gasped, _"Was Sage right?"_

-~-~*~-~-

Sage wept all the way to the lake. He dragged his feet in the heavy snow, pulling his coat around his body tighter and whispered his lover's name through his cracked lips.

He looked up at the dock and noticed a weird shaped shadow. Wondering to himself, he walked closer to it, then realized what it was.

Rowen was sitting on the edge of the dock, his long legs pulled to his chest. There was a sharp wind that was cutting around, causing his unruly blue hair to fly. Enormous white wings flowed off his back, whisking odd amounts of feathers into the air. As the wind blew, his wings looked more like liquid, so white and so smooth. 

"Rowen?" Sage called, slightly above a whisper.

Rowen jerked upon hearing his name. He stood up and ruffled himself, looking at Sage who stood at the beginning of the dock. His lips formed a smile. "Sage."

Sage slowly walked down towards him, his face of confusion interchangeable. When he got within arm's length, Sage stopped, "Why do you have..." he paused and outstretched his arm, running his fingers through Rowen's feathers, "wings?"

Rowen smiled and took a step into Sage, wrapping them around both their bodies. He stroked the side of Sage's tear-wet face and leaned to kiss him softly.

"Are you... an angel?" Sage whispered, breaking their kiss.

Rowen nodded gently, wiping the tears from Sage's face, "Don't be mad at Ryo, love."

Sage creased his brow, "How do you know I'm mad at him?"

Rowen couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped from his throat. "He doesn't understand and probably never will. I don't even know if Ryo and Cye and Kento are ready to understand."

"But I'm not crazy!" Sage cried, "You're here, you're right in front of me, touching me! You're real, Rowen! Why can't you tell Ryo or Cye!?"

Rowen shushed him, "Sage, I can't do that right now."

Sage pushed away from Rowen walking towards the end of the dock, "Why not?" he asked.

"I thought you and me would have something special... something no one else can posses."

Sage turned and looked at Rowen. His wings were fluttering in the cold heavy wind, his blue hair whipping the sides of his face. But his eyes. There was something about his eyes that made Sage believe that he was still alive. There was still that hint of life in them, that clear sparkle. "But everyone thinks I've gone mad..."

Rowen pulled Sage to him, "Then don't tell them about me!" he exclaimed. 

Sage looked deep into Rowen's eyes, his beautiful crystal sapphire eyes, "Rowen,"

"Yes?"

Sage put his hand against Rowen's cheek and studied his face, "You're still alive, aren't you?"

Rowen frowned, "Sage-"

Sage left his arms and headed towards the end of the dock again, this time looking down at the ice. "Rowen, I don't want to be without you."

Rowen walked up behind him. "What are you talking about?"

"I want to be with you forever..."

"Sage! Don't!" But before Rowen could grab him, Sage plundered back into the water's depths. 

__


	5. Confession

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment 

~*~

Rowen cursed as he flew in after Sage, diving into the ice cold water. Underneath the ice, Rowen swam around, finally finding Sage's unconscious body floating near the bottom. He quickly grabbed him and kicked towards the surface. With one last thrust, Rowen broke through the ice, Sage in his arms. 

Rowen flew all the way back to the house then landed on the ground outside Sage's window. He walked up to it and opened it, climbing inside. 

-~-~*~-~-

"Did you guys hear that?" Ryo asked to everyone else who was in the kitchen. 

"Hear what?" Cye replied. 

"Wasn't Sage outside?" 

Kento nodded. "At least he didn't come in through the front door."

"Then he must've climbed in through his window..." Ryo mumbled, then got up from his seat, heading towards Sage's bedroom.

-~-~*~-~-

Rowen cried softly as he set Sage down on the bed. He knelt down next to him and grabbed Sage's hand, pressing it against his cheek. "Why did you do that Sage?" he asked.

Rowen jolted as he watched the doorknob turn softly. 

"Sage?" Ryo whispered, peeking his head in through the doorway. Ryo opened it all the way and let the light shine into the bedroom. There, he found Sage, shivering and wet. 

Ryo cursed to himself, "Gods-SAGE!" Ryo rushed to his side, calling Cye and Kento. He ripped off the frozen clothes from his body and threw them on the floor.

Cye took one look at Sage and ran into the bathroom, starting up a warm bath. 

Kento cursed frequently as he grabbed all the ice cold clothes from the floor, returning with a couple of towels. 

Ryo could only gape at Sage's blue tinted body. His lips were purple. His hair was frozen stiff, and even the lively pink in his cheeks had gone white. 

"What the _hell_ happened to him!?" Kento screamed, wrapping his icy body in towels. 

Ryo subconsciously shook his head, "I... I don't know!" Ryo wept quietly as his followed Kento into the bathroom, carrying Sage. Once there, Ryo knelt down next to the tub. He gently and slowly put Sage in the warm water, watching more steam rise from the water.

Cye bit his bottom lip, "What is wrong with him?"

Kento grabbed his forehead as free tears ran down his cheeks, "I don't even _fucking_ know!" 

Ryo cursed loudly, leaving the bathroom. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to keep himself from crying as he walked back into Sage's room. Not being able to stop anything, he plopped his heavy body down on the bed. He watched as he tears fell to the ground. But there was something there that shouldn't have been. Blood. 

Ryo jerked back up and ran back into the bathroom. "Guys! Does he have any cuts on him?"

Cye shook his head. "I already checked for that." Cye stopped stroking the side of Sage's face when Sage jerked. 

Sage slowly opened his heavy red eyes. "Wh.... where-"

Cye shushed him, "Sage, don't worry. You're okay."

Ryo closed his eyes, sighing in something between anger and relief. He walked back into Sage's room, looking at the blood stain on the carpet. "Where is that from?"

-~-~*~-~-

Rowen winced as he brushed his fingertip against the gouge in his wing. He wiped the blood on the snow and rubbed away his tears. 

"_Sage_," he whimpered, "_Why_?" Rowen painfully folded his wings over his back and sighed, "I love you so much... you don't need to die..."

-~-~*~-~-

Kento placed Sage back in his bed. "Sage, go back to sleep."

"Sage, you are SO stressed out... all you need to do right now is sleep... okay?" Cye replied, putting a third blanket on top of Sage.

Sage sighed, pressing his body deeper into the bed. 

"Good night," Cye whispered, closing the door behind him as he and Kento walked out. 

-~-~*~-~-

Ryo was sitting in the family room, arms crossed over his chest. Kento heaved a deep breath as he joined him. 

"What is going through his head!? Why does he feel the need to KILL himself!?" Kento almost screamed. 

Cye sat down softly in the chair next to them. "Well, him and Rowen were like one person. I supposed he feels like he's no longer himself."

"So what? We ALL lost Rowen, not just him!" Kento yelled back, tears brimming in his eyelids. 

"I know, I know. But it's different for him..." Cye replied, just a tone above a whisper.

Ryo rubbed his forehead, trying to ease his headache. "But you said that he wasn't injured, right?" he asked.

Cye nodded, "Yes, I checked... twice."

"Alright, then what explains the blood stain on his carpet?"

Kento and Cye both sat up, "What?!"

"There was a blood stain on the floor next to his bed.... where did that come from?"

Kento groaned, "What the hell?!" 

"There is no explanation..." Cye mumbled back, "I don't-"

"There is no explanation like there was no explanation for how Sage got out of the water either!" Ryo stood up, "Maybe Sage isn't lying, maybe Sage isn't crazy!"

Kento stood up and matched his dark blues with Ryo's bright ones, "Ryo, calm down. We don't need this right now-"

"Kento, you don't understand! How can all this be happening! Sage didn't do it and none of us did! There isn't any other way!" Ryo screamed.

Kento didn't now what to say, "Ryo..." 

Cye and Ryo waited for Kento to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, they just both watched as he went upstairs, then slammed his door. 

Cye met Ryo's teary eyes, "Ryo, I can't do anything for you."

Ryo let himself sob, "Cye, I just don't know what to do! I don't know what to do for him! I CANNOT take it anymore! I can't see him like that anymore!"

Cye nodded, "I know, Ryo, trust me, I know." 

Ryo paced back and forth through the family room. He didn't say anything for a long time.

Cye sat back down, his eyes still on Ryo, "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

Ryo stopped walking, "Where's Mia?"

Cye thought for a minute, "She's still in bed. All this is getting her really stressed and she was complaining about a headache before... why do you ask?"

Ryo sighed, "Okay...because I want to tell you something...."

Cye inched to the edge of his seat, "What is it Ryo?"

With tears in his eyes, Ryo whispered, "I love him, Cye..."

__


	6. Black Feathers

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

**Authors Note: **Alright. This chapter gets a little descriptive at the end... not sex, but kinda... um... what's the word... GORE. It's not horribly bad, but to those with really weak stomachs, CHILL. 

*muah* I love you guys!

~*~

Cye blinked, not totally comprehending what Ryo said. "You... you love him?"

Ryo nodded softly. "All I can think about is him. I want to be there for him. I want to tell him that everything is okay..." Ryo sighed, bringing a hand through his locks, "But I can't."

Cye bit the inside of his cheek, "Gods, Ryo.... I don't kno-"

"You don't have to say anything... I just... I guess I just needed to tell someone. I can't hold it anymore. If I ever see Sage again like I did tonight... something is going to explode inside of me. And I will _not _be able to hold it back."

Cye nodded, "I understand, Ryo. But if you even hint to Sage that you're like this.... _I _don't even know what he will do."

"That's my problem!" Ryo exclaimed, "I don't know what to do anymore. He's even gotten me into believing that Rowen is still... alive. And all I want to do is tell him 'yes, Sage, I believe you. I feel for you'." Ryo sat down in a chair, "But I can't!" he blurted out, unshed tears forming in his eyes.

Cye sat down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ryo."

Ryo looked into Cye's sea-green eyes, "What?"

"Maybe you _should_ just tell him."

Ryo's brows arched, "What?"

Cye nodded, "Maybe you're the piece that can replace the emptiness inside of him. You can stop him from trying to kill himself." Cye whispered.

Ryo's glare of confusion quickly faded into a look of pain. "But I don't think I'm ready. Mia-"

"Mia... don't worry about her. Unless you have any- and I mean _any_- feeling of doubt, then don't tell him."

Ryo bit his bottom lip. "Maybe I should just sleep on it." Ryo stood up slowly and headed towards the stairwell. 

"If you need anything...."

Ryo nodded, showing he understood. "I'll see you tomorrow, Cye. G'night."

"Night."

Ryo walked towards the bedroom that he and Mia shared, picking his heavy feet up one after the other. He gazed into Kento's open bedroom door, picking up on the light snoring that came from within. He finally reached his closed door and slowly turned the knob, letting himself inside.

Mia was asleep on the bed, her body facing the window and the sheets everywhere - hinting to Ryo that she didn't fall asleep easily. Deciding not to wake her, Ryo slipped out of his clothes and got in the bed beside her, being extra gentle. 

He closed his eyes and sighed, grateful to be in bed.

But Mia turned over and put her arm around Ryo's waist.

"Are you okay, honey?" she whispered.

Ryo made a quick "Mmm-hmm," and buried himself deeper into the covers. "You?"

Mia groaned, "My head is still killing me," she mumbled, her face deep in a pillow. "What happened downstairs? I heard a lot of yelling..."

Ryo sighed and turned to face her, "Sage tried to kill himself again." Ryo closed his eyes as Mia took a slight gasp.

"Is he alright? What happened?"

"He's definitely fine... he just attempted what he did last time."

Mia paused for a long minute, "Then how did he end up back here?"

Ryo shrugged, "No one knows. But I'm starting to believe that Sage is right about Rowen."

Mia snorted, "That he's still alive?! Come now, Ryo, be a little more realistic."

Ryo turned his back to her, "Mia, I know you think I'm crazy now, but who else could've rescued him from the lake, _twice_?! What could of left behind a particularly weird colored feather? And what could've left behind blood if Sage wasn't injured at all?"

Mia didn't reply. 

"You see what I mean? Unless one of us is lying, there is no other explanation."

"But, Ryo," Mia started, softly, "If Rowen was alive or whatever, don't you think that he would come back to _all _of us? And if he wasn't, but Sage is right, why would he _bleed_?"

Ryo closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Mia, I don't have all the answers. But I definitely found a substitute until there is the right one."

Mia rolled onto her side, "Whatever, Ryo. Whatever."

-~-~*~-~-

Sage groaned as he woke up in the middle of the night, feeling sore and stiff all over. Hearing a taping against the windowpane he looked towards it. 

Rowen was standing outside.

Sage sighed, somewhat happy, and walked towards it, opening it for Rowen to get through.

"Rowen... why didn't you let me be? Why didn't you let me drown in the lake?" Sage asked in a tone not any higher than a whisper.

Rowen closed his eyes, sitting down on the bed, "Because, Sage. It doesn't matter if you become what I am or not, we will be together, always."

"Why are you so sure on that?" Sage replied, sitting next to him, looking at his wings. Then he noticed the dried blood, "What the hell happened?! What is that from?!"

Rowen pulled his wings closer to himself, feeling ashamed, "Sage, don't worry about that, it's not important."

"It's important to me, Ro! I love you still! What happened?!"

Rowen grabbed his side, looking at the floor, "When I pulled you from the ice, I guess my wing got caught against an edge or something. But it doesn't bother me. It doesn't hurt at all."

"Well, it sure looks painful."

"Sage... you need to talk to Ryo."

Sage shot him a disgusted look, "Why?"

"Because... he's worried about you."

"So?! He sure doesn't show it! And he's been trying to tell me that I'm crazy! If he doesn't believe me, then to hell with him! I. Don't. Need. Him."

"Yes, you do, Sage. I'm not always going to be there to save you from the ice. I can't be here physically 24-7. And with the way you're acting, you NEED him."

"Why are you always so fucking protective?! Even before all this shit..." Sage mumbled the last part, looking at the floor. 

"I'm protective because I love you, Sage."

"Then _be here with me_, forever."

"Sage I _cannot _do that! How many times do I gotta say that!?"

Sage let out a long groan, grabbing his forehead and walking towards the window. He gazed out, scanning the white atmosphere. "Rowen... I just wish I could go back... keep you from leaving. Or at least become what you are... Rowen I-" Sage turned around, but Rowen wasn't there. "What the-"

Sage heaved a heavy sigh and got back in his bed. He didn't care anymore. He was tired and sore. Sleep sounded wonderful to him.

A few hours later Sage shifted in his sleep, making his body ache all over and ache to be awake. His eyes flickered open to an unusual bright light. Trying to concentrate on anything that was around him, he attempted to sit up.

"Sage..."

Sage squinted his eyes, trying to see anything in the bright light. He finally saw a darkened figure in the corner of his room, looking like it was leaned up against the wall. 

"Who's there?" he called out, standing up.

"I'm here, Sage. Come," it replied. 

Sage arched a brow, stumbling as he attempted to close the space between them. The closer he got the dimmer the light got. When the person was finally standing in front of him, Sage could barely see through the darkness that separated them.

"Who are you?" Sage asked, trying to see his face. But it was blank.

"I'm Rowen."

Sage squinted his eyes in something next to anger, "No you're not. Rowen doesn't have a deep voice like you do... why won't you just tell me who you are?!"

"I'm Rowen. I told you."

Sage bit his lip to keep from yelling. "No your not! Where's Rowen?!"

The figure took a step into Sage, pressing his nose against his. "You got what you wanted, why are you mad?"

Sage took a step backwards, confused, "What do you mean I got what I wanted?"

The figure laughed. "Look in the mirror."

Sage cautiously turned his head, looking into the mirror that was against his closet door. "No... no, this isn't what I asked for..." Sage kept shaking his head, not wanting to believe the black wings that sprouted from his shoulder blades. He moved them around, creating a mist of black feathers. Sage couldn't stop the tears that flowed from his now dark violet eyes. 

"You are now together as one... together as _one opposite_!" The figure oozed out an evil laugh and finally stepped into a light where Sage could see him. It was, indeed, Rowen. Rowen with dead eyes. Eyes that had no life, no sparkle, and no color.

Sage looked in the mirror again, this time seeing the real Rowen. The new Rowen he had come to love. His white wings, his blue hair, his vibrant eyes. 

Rowen pressed his palm against the mirror, one single tear tracing his down his cheek.

"This ISN'T what I wanted!" Sage screamed. 

The other Rowen took a step backwards and horrible black wings sprouted from his back like jackknives. Black and red venom dripped off the tips as he got an irate look in his dead eyes. 

"You wanted to be what Rowen was, didn't you," he muttered, "_Didn't you_?!"

"No, no I didn't!" He screamed back. Howling in his tears, he reached his arms over his shoulders and grabbed a hold of his wings. With one long, painful scream, he pulled hard on them, ripping them off. 

Rowen pounded on the mirror, moving his mouth like his was screaming, but nothing was heard. Blood red tears flowed down Rowen's face as he cried for his love. He hit the mirror again, breaking it into a thousand pieces. 

Breaking through the web of glass, Rowen bolted over to Sage's side and hovered over him. He couldn't touch him. Nothing could stop the tears from Rowen's eyes and nothing, he thought, could save him. All he could do was gaze over Sage laying the ground and wishing that those dark blood trails cascading down his back weren't really there. 

With one last laugh, the other Rowen took one wave of his ominous wings and disappeared. 

__


	7. Scars

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~I just want to say *THANKS* FOR EVERYONE who reviewed. You guys make my writing complete. I wish I could show everyone how thankful I am. 

But I can give you HUGS! *HUGZ* *HUGZ*

demyn

~*~

Ryo jerked awake at 5:12 am, his whole body tense, listening desperately for whatever it was that had jerked him so completely out of a sound slumber.

"What the hell..." Ryo grabbed the side of head. He reached out with his mind, touching the presences he knew better than his own soul. He was just getting resettled in his covers when he felt it again, a flutter in the back of his mind, like something was wrong. Definitely wrong.

His minds thoughts diverted directly to Sage. Ryo got out of bed and headed downstairs to go and check on him. He raced into Sage's bedroom, not even bothering to knock first. 

"Sage?" Ryo said in a soft tone. 

Sage was trembling and sobbing, but in such an ghostly silence it made Ryo's skin crawl. 

Ryo cursed softly and rushed to his side, trying to get him to wake up, "Sage! Sage, are you alright?"

Sage just shook Ryo off, trying weakly to force Ryo's hands off of him.

"SAGE!" he hissed, "Snap OUT of it!" Ryo was ready to smack him when Sage's eyes opened wide and violet, focusing in bewilderment on Ryo's face. Ryo grabbed a hold of him, but Sage just crumpled into him, sobbing so much that his whole body shook. 

Ryo shushed him, "It's alright, Sage. You're fine. You're here, it's okay!"

"But... my... my Rowen..." he shook, pressing his palms to his eyes, trying to blot out the images. "No, I can't... I can't," he chanted repeatedly, shaking his head. 

Ryo ran his fingers over his cheek, wiping the tears that blinded him. "Gods, Sage. It's okay. Cry for him. Anything that makes you feel better." Ryo leaned closer to him, giving him a tight squeeze. One part of him was yelling, screaming to turn back. The other side was shoving him further into his arms. 

"Do you want me to stay here?" Ryo whispered, looking up for Sage's gray eyes.

Ryo's words stung him, as he didn't say anything for a long time, unless he spoke with his anxious eyes. He watched as Ryo blinked, a wave of some emotion intangible to him, something like fear or lust, Sage didn't know. But when Ryo blinked again, that emotion was completely gone_. _

"What the hell was that?" Sage asked himself. He broke down again, crying softly. But it wasn't those harsh sobs lingering from the nightmare, but the kind of tears that could wipe away pain and ease a heart.

"Go back to sleep, Sage," Ryo murmured, letting Sage fall back onto his pillows. "I'll stay here."

Sage closed his swollen eyes and pressed his head deeper into the softness. He didn't even care that Ryo got in next to him, one arm gently resting over his chest. 

-~-~*~-~-

Sage woke with a yawn the next morning. He smiled faintly as he felt Ryo's presence behind him, hearing his soft breathing. 

Ryo sighed heavenly, mumbling something close to "It's alright, Sage."

Sage's faint smile became a real one. He couldn't remember what Ryo had done, he just knew he felt better than he had in awhile, not like the weight of the world was crushing his soul. He was actually feeling so much better that he thought that he ought to get up.

But he didn't want to move. 

"What the hell," He closed his eyes. 

"You a'righ'?" Ryo mumbled sleepily.

Sage shifted his weight onto his shoulders as he turned. Sighing, he muttered, "Yeah. I feel loads better."

"Good," Ryo whispered, snuggling into the covers.

Sage noted that the arms around him didn't move. But, suddenly, he didn't care anymore. 

Ryo sighed heavily, opening his eyes to gaze at Sage. But his eyes of sleepiness and content flipped into eyes of fear.

Sage whipped around, hearing Ryo's gasp of panic. "What?"

Ryo covered his mouth, "Your... your back. Look at your back."

Sage's eyebrows creased with immense fear. He jumped out of bed and ran to his closet, his dream suddenly returning to him.

Sage cursed loudly. Two ruby red scars in his light skin drew down his shoulder blades. They were deep. Sage could feel the bottom of each score against his shoulder bone as he moved around. He tensed up looking at himself in the mirror, getting more angry and more frustrated each time his eyes passed over his back. But then he saw Rowen in the mirror.

Rowen outside at the window. 

Sage whipped around, staring at the window with his eyes like daggers. But there wasn't anything there. Nothing.

Sage screamed, slamming his fist into the mirror, completely shattering it. He kept screaming, pounding on the wall until both his arms were coated in blood. Then he stopped, collapsing to the ground in a storm of tears and sobs.

Cye, Kento, and Mia all came rushing in.

Kento took one look at Sage and one look at Ryo, shaking on the bed, and exploded, "WHAT the _HELL_ happened?!" he screeched, "Ryo?! What the hell did you do?!"

Ryo couldn't do anything but point at Sage. 

Cye was already at Sage's side, but Sage wouldn't let him touch him. He kept pushing Cye away, telling him to leave him alone.

"Just let me DIE!" Sage screamed in-between his sobs, pressing his blood drenched hands against his face, mixing them with his salty tears. 

Cye shot his more than worried look over to Ryo. He looked really uneasy with what Sage said. And so did everyone else. 

After a good moment of nothing but listening to Sage's crying, Kento spoke up, this time more calm, "Ryo, would you like to tell us what happened..."

Ryo closed his eyes, taking a huge breath. "Sage... Sage has two scars the length of his hand on his shoulders. And when he went to go look at them in the mirror-" Ryo stopping, swallowing the spit in his mouth, "He... I don't know what happened but he just started hitting the mirror-"

"Rowen did all this to me!" Sage scowled, removing his hands from his face, revealing blood-shot eyes and a bloody face. "I had wings like him but they were black and he had another part of him and he told me that he was Rowen, but I knew he wasn't cause he didn't talk like him and he had black wings and Rowen was in the mirror and then he was outside and..." Sage stopped, looking at everyone's bewildered faces. Tears fell down his cheeks, smearing the blood and dripping it down to his neck. "Rowen's doing this... I can't help it." he whimpered, "I love him..."

Cye groaned loudly pressing his palms against his temples. "_What_ is happening...."

"Sage, we need to take you to the hospital or something..." Kento replied, his voice unnaturally soft, "You need help."

Sage creased his eyebrows, making his eyes squint, "No..." he shook his head softly, "No, no, I'm fine."

"No, you're fucking not!" Ryo yelled, coming out of his trance state and into reality, "Sage, look at what you did... look at yourself!"

Sage shamefully stared at the piles of glass from the mirror. He looked at his red arms, feeling the itching pain that scorched through them. He could also feel the caked blood on his face, his tears burning as they flowed down his cheeks. 

"Sage, I'm sorry, but you're not yourself anymore. You've become someone that no one in the this house knows - someone that no one wants to know. I can't explain everything, but what I can explain to you is that something has you totally flipped."

Sage swallowed the emotion in his throat, wanting it to go away.

"It's been almost 2 weeks. You can't stay in the past anymore," Cye remarked, standing to his feet. "We are all in this together, but we can't move on. We can't move on without you."

Sage squeezed his eyes shut, "But Rowen. Rowen is here." he mumbled, then opened his eyes.

Blackness.

He tried again to open his eyes, but he didn't see anything. He suddenly felt himself falling, blackness surrounding him. Then there was nothing. 

  


  


__


	8. Blood shot eyes

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~ Authors note: Alright. I apologize for the wait, but I had mass school work these past weeks. But now that I'm finally done, I could update! Thanks for waiting AND reviewing guys!

~*~

Sage woke up, squinting as bright lights shone in his face. 

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I hope so. A psychiatrist is supposed to come in and talk to him when he is awake."

Sage groaned as he listened to the conversation, wishing he was in his own bed at home. Wishing Rowen was here. Rowen would always make everything better. 

"Rowen..." Sage mumbled, wrestling in his sleep. He opened his eyes, this time focusing on Ryo's face. "Where am I?"

Ryo smiled faintly, "In a hospital." 

Sage tried to sit up, but he felt lightheaded, "Agh... What the hell happened?"

"Sage, you passed out from blood loss. We took you here. We've been here for about," Kento paused, glancing at his watch, "2 hours." 

Sage rubbed his temples, "Where's Rowen?"

Kento sighed, looking at everyone with something close to annoyance. "Um, Sage..."

"Rowen," Sage brought his hands into his lap and looked up at his friends, "Rowen is here. I can feel it. Haven't you guys seen him yet?"

Kento arched his eyebrows as he, again, looked at everyone else. He bit his lip and rudely shook his head, "No, Sage."

The door to Sage's room knocked and opened, "Hello?" A doctor asked as he helped himself inside. "This is Sage... Sage Date, right?"

"Yea, and we are his friends." Ryo replied. 

"I'm Doctor Murphy. I presume I'm going to talk to him about-"

"Rowen Hashiba." Kento interrupted. "You do know what is going on..."

Dr. Murphy nodded, showing his understanding. "Why don't the rest of you go and grab something to eat. Sage and I should be finished in about an hour or so. "

Ryo watched as all the guys left the room, but Mia stood by the door, waiting for Ryo with a sort of concerned but impatience look. "Are you coming, Ryo?" She asked.

"Yeah, just a minute." Ryo pushed her forward with a wave of his hand. "I gotta talk to the doctor for a second."

"Oh," she sighed, "Okay." She slowly left the room, closing the door behind her. 

Ryo stood by Sage's side and started to stroke Sage's head. "Dr. Murphy, please take care of him. He's been through a lot and all of us are willing to help him." Ryo pierced his worried eyes into the doctor's. 

Dr. Murphy nodded, showing his concern and understanding. "I know. Mr. Date and I are just going to chat. Get some things settled."

Ryo looked to ground as he started to head out, "I'll see you in an hour, Sage, okay?"

Sage pried his heavy eyes up to Ryo's, "Alright."

-~-~*~-~-

Ryo ran out the hospital door, meeting the rest of his friends in the all to familiar red jeep.

"Is everything okay, Ryo?" Cye asked, looking behind him from the drivers seat.

Ryo put on his seatbelt, nodding. "Yeah, I just needed to make sure that the doctor knew everything,"

Cye smiled and put the car into drive, "Where do you guys want to go for lunch?"

"Pizza Place!" Kento replied, "I'm hungry for pizza."

Cye smirked, "Is pizza alright for everyone else?" A monotone of 'yeahs' responded. "Okay, then we're going to pizza place."

-~-~*~-~-

Kento kept his burp to himself as he set his empty plate back on the table, "Oh, that pizza was _good_!"

Cye smirked, "Yeah, it was pretty good," Cye wiped his mouth and glanced over at Ryo, who was staring into nowhere, still a half of piece of pizza left on his plate. "Are you okay, Ryo?"

Ryo jerked a little, as if coming out of his state of mind, "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

Cye arched a brow and looked over at Mia, "Sage is going to be alright, Ryo. Stop your worrying."

"Cye's right, Ryo. You need to relax." Mia put her hand on his shoulder, kneading his muscles with her fingertips, "Maybe we all need to go out tonight. You know, get our minds off of some things."

Ryo locked his anxious eyes with Mia, "Maybe your right, Mia." Ryo turned to his other friends sitting at the table, "Hey guys! What do you all think to a night out tonight?"

Kento eye's beamed, "Hell yes!" 

Cye nodded, "I'm up for that. We could all use some fun."

Kento glanced at his watch, "Well it's been about an hour and 15 minutes... let's go back and check on Sage."

Everyone nodded and got up, following Kento towards the door. 

~-~*~-~-

As soon as everyone piled out of the car, Ryo was the first to reach the entrance door. He opened it with impatience, storming his way down the hallway.

Mia's look of concern deepened. "Cye," she called, hesitating her footsteps as she followed him. She waiting for Cye to stop and look at her. "What is up with Ryo? Have you talked to him?"

Cye sighed, Mia's concern and worry trampling him. "Uh, I don't really know, Mia. I know that he seems the most concerned person about Sage, but-"

"I don't know what's gone wrong. It's like he's constantly ignoring me. Do you think maybe he'll change once Sage is better?"

Cye smiled, "Of course. At least, that's what I also think will happen."

Mia let a small smile slip onto her lips, "Okay. Thanks Cye."

Cye shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Now lets catch up to Kento and Ryo."

Cye and Mia speed walked down the hallway, finding Ryo and Kento waiting near a door. 

"Well?" Cye asked, "Did you knock?"

"Should we?" Kento asked, "I mean, what if the doc's not done yet?"

"I'm going to knock anyways," Ryo retorted, pulling his hand up so he could pound his knuckles on the door. But just before he could, the doorknob turned and Dr. Murphy stepped out. 

"How is he? Is Sage okay?" Ryo asked quickly. 

Dr. Murphy scribbled something on his clipboard and pushed his glasses on top of his head. "Mr. Date..." he paused to sigh. "Let's just say that today isn't his best day."

Kento's eyebrow's fused together, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I did talk to him. We got everything worked out. But let me warn you that he's changed. His emotions and body are over their level of normal workings, so I'm prescribing him some sleeping pills until his body is back on track."

"So what should we do as a group to help him?" Cye asked.

"Well, try not to talk about Rowen. He is more than devastated about his friend's death and I figure that the best way to help him is not talk about Rowen as a living person. Talking about Rowen _does _help him though. As far as physically helping him, just support him in anyway that you can, but more importantly, let him sleep."

Everyone nodded. 

"Now, I'm going to go and get Sage. Don't startle him because this was a rough time." With that said, Dr. Murphy turned on his heel and opened the door, slipping in behind it. 

"You think he really cured Sage of Rowen?" Kento asked thoughtfully. "He was going insane."

Cye bit his lip, "I hope so. I miss the old Sage."

The door slowly opened and Sage stepped through.

Ryo felt his knees buckle from underneath him as soon as he got a glance at Sage.

Sage's eyes were bloodshot and shameful as he only glanced at the floor. His hair was flat and droopy, looking heavy on his head. His skin wasn't the lively pinkish tan as it has always been. Now it was pale and white looked as though death had touched him somehow. His body looked weak and he struggled with each step he had to take. 

Dr. Murphy placed his hand on Sage's shoulder and smiled faintly. "Sage, you're alright now. Go home to your friends and get some rest. It's been a long day for you."

Sage's crackled lips parted slightly to mouth an "okay" and he nodded. 

Cye gracefully put his arm around Sage's shoulders and guided him towards the exit, "Sage, its okay. We're going to go home now."

Kento nodded at the doctor gave a wave, showing his appreciation. He followed the rest of the group, glad that Sage was finally going to be alright.

~*~

Demyn: Or is he?? -.^


	9. Rowen

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

Cye pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition. He looked over his shoulder, scanning his eyes over everyone else. Sage looked tired as he sat and stared out the window. Ryo was chewing on his bottom lip, waiting impatiently for Kento to open the door. Mia sighed, shooting Cye an exhausted look before she reached and opened the passenger side door. 

Ryo hopped out of the car, waiting for Sage. But he wasn't moving. 

"Sage?" Ryo asked, his brows folding over his eyes, "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

Sage looked at Ryo in lament. He shook his head and started to get out of the car. He stepped out and walked slowly towards the front door. 

He was limping.

"Sage?! Stop, let me help you!" Ryo almost shouted, running to put an arm underneath Sage's arm.

Sage seemed to hesitate, but he didn't say anything so Ryo continued to help him inside. 

~-~*~-~-

Ryo pulled at his face with his hand as he sat in the kitchen later that evening. 

"You a'right, Ryo?" Kento asked softly. "What's on your mind?"

Ryo pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Just Sage. I just wish I could help him."

Kento nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, I know how ya feel. 

Ryo sighed a little. "I hope he sleeps well."

Kento chuckled, "With that strong dose of sleeping pills, Sage'll be out for awhile."

Ryo smiled, "That's true." Ryo got up and started to head towards the staircase. 

"Hey, Ryo?"

Ryo stopped, "Yeah, Kent?"

"Are we all still goin' out tonight?" he asked, a little over a whisper.

Ryo let a sly grin pass over his mouth, "Yeah," he replied, softly. "Yes, we are."

Kento clenched his fists as he shot one in the air, "Yeah!"

"I'll go and get Cye and Mia."

Kento nodded and followed after Ryo, heading towards his room to get ready.

Ryo knocked on Sage's door, opened it and set eyes on Cye. "Is he alright, Cye?"

Cye nodded his head and accompanied it with a warm smile. "He's out cold."

Ryo laughed a little. "Do you think he'll be fine if we all go out for dinner?"

Cye's eyes brightened, "He should be... of course. His prescription required a large dose, so he shouldn't even realize we're gone."

Ryo nodded, "Then let's head out."

Cye smiled and stood up from his chair, then followed Ryo to the door. He clicked the light off and slowly closed the door behind him. 

~-~*~-~

"So, where are we going again?" Cye asked curiously as he sat in the passenger seat, watching the road in front of him.

Mia flipped her long hair out of her face, smiling, "One Eights."

Cye's eyebrows arched widely, "Are you serious? On a Friday? Its going to be completely packed!"

Kento laughed, "But Cye... it's the One Eights club! Everyone who is anyone is down there right now!"

Ryo bit his lip to keep his tremendous smile from coming loose. "This will definitely take everything off everyone's mind."

Mia laughed to herself as she pulled into the busy parking lot of the bar. Ryo jumped out of the car, dressed in a dark red sweater and black jeans. He threw his tan hand through his black hair, smiling to himself as he walked towards the entrance. Kento followed, pulling his leather jacket tighter around his body. Cye tried to fix his fly-aways in his ruby brunette hair, his unbuttoned light blue flannel flowing from his body with the wind. Mia grabbed a hold of Ryo's arm as she walked through the entrance, her black skirt and red top giving her interested eyes. 

The waiter seated them to a corner bench, loud laughs and lots of talking going in and out through their ears. The place was busy. Really busy. 

Mia sighed, sitting down. "I'm so glad I made a reservation."

"Me too!" exclaimed Kento, already grabbing a menu. "Hmm... there is so many choices...."

Ryo glanced over the menu, deciding almost immediately that he was going to get flame broiled steak. 

A waitress of about 24 came to their table. She noticed Ryo's eyes almost immediately. "Are you guys ready to order? Or do you want to start off with drinks?"

"Just start me off with Long Island iced tea." Cye replied first, smiling at his order. 

"I'm going to have some tomato juice... as I am the designated driver," Mia said after. 

"I'll have a..." Ryo paused, glancing over the drink menu. He looked up and met the waitress's eyes again, "Just a strawberry margarita."

The waitress giggled, "That's a good choice."

Kento arched his brow at Ryo, then ordered a beer. 

"Alright, I'll have your drinks out in a second!" she responded, winking at Ryo just before she turned on her heel.

"What is up with her, Ryo?" Mia asked in hurt curiosity. 

Ryo made a face and shrugged, "I don't know!"

"She's cute though," Kento said, smugly.

Ryo rolled his eyes. 

Then a bass kick vibrated the building. Everyone started to yell as they moved to the center of the room. Another loud bass kick hit and the dancing music began to play. All the guys and Mia watched with amusement as everyone started to dance. 

The lights flickered and then shut off. But red, pink, green, blue, and yellow lights flipped on and flashed as the music kept playing. 

"This is crazy!" Kento cried, a wide smile placed on his lips. "I'm going to join the crowd!" He jumped up from his seat and danced his thing over to the floor. 

Cye laughed. "Well, Kento's feeling bold tonight."

Ryo smirked. He was about to get up himself, but the waitress came back over with their drinks. 

"Anything else?" She asked, her bright green eyes glued to Ryo's tiger blues.

Ryo couldn't reply. 

"Nothing right now, thank you, though." Cye said. 

"Oh, okay." The girl got a wide smile on her face and grabbed Ryo's hand as the music faded into a new song. "Come on! I need a little break!" She cried. 

Ryo couldn't find any words to say as she dragged him onto to the floor. She grabbed both his hands and placed them around her waist and started to move her hips with the beat, motioning Ryo to do the same.

Not knowing what else to do, he played along with it. His faint smile became a real one as the girl got into it, getting closer to his body and smiling into his eyes. 

"So what's your name?" She asked, tapping her finger against Ryo's nose. 

"Uh... Ryo." He replied.

She laughed, "Ryo is it? Well, my name's Anne." She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and took one more step into Ryo. "You're pretty cute."

Ryo couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from his throat. "Okay?"

She rolled her eyes, "What, you can't take a compliment?"

"Well- agh!" Ryo fell forward a step as someone bumped him from behind, "What the hell?!" Ryo whipped around, ready to yell at the person who had knocked him. 

A pair of clear blue eyes stared down into his. Blue hair fell into his eyes as he stumbled, but that same terrified look never left his face.

Ryo blinked, "Ro-Rowen?!"

The crowd started getting heavy and everyone was dancing and pushing. Rowen fell back into the crowd and disappeared behind the wall of people.

Ryo cursed loudly.

"What's wrong? Did you know him?" Anne asked, pulling at his arm.

Ryo shoved her off of him, "Yeah... he's supposed to be dead..."

"What?" she asked again, not being able to hear him over the music and people.

Ryo shook his head and shoved his way back through the crowd where Rowen had gone.


	10. Angel Catcher

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

"ROWEN!" Ryo yelled, failing in his attempts to raise his voice over the music. He was too confused to be upset. Hell, he was too confused to be anything BUT. He looked around the room one more time before rushing back to the table.

"What's wrong, Ryo?" Cye asked, noticing the sweat forming on his brow and the look in his eyes. "What happened?"

Ryo sat down, taking a deep breath. "Nothing. I'm just tired from dancing and stress."

Cye's eyebrows arched, "Stress?" _'Where did that come from?' _he thought.

"Don't worry about it." Ryo grabbed a hold of his margarita and took a strong gulp. 

Mia smirked, shrugging and followed Ryo's lead.

Kento returned about 10 minutes later, after the wave of dancing had ended. He sat down just as the normal lights turned back on and the dancing music faded away. He plopped his heavy, but cheerful, body down in his seat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. 

"Man," he exclaimed, "I'm hungry."

Cye and Mia laughed. Ryo just rolled his eyes. 

"So how's that cute waitress of yours?" Kento asked, a gleam in his eye.

Ryo bit his lip, shaking his head, "Nothing. She's not my type."

"So I'm not your type, eh?" Anne stood behind him, a hurt look on her face.

Ryo coughed, "Well, I meant you're pretty and all, but-"

"No, it's okay. I just thought you were drunk alread-" she quickly covered her mouth and apologized. 

Kento hollered and laughed. 

"Oh, I see how it is now," Ryo growled playfully.

"I'm sorry! It's not like that, you just looked sad and I wanted to make you feel better."

Ryo smiled, shaking his head, "No, its okay. Don't worry about it."

Kento smirked, "Alright, apologizes accepted, not can we get some food up in here!?" he cried, a wide smile stretched across his face.

Anne laughed, "Okay, I'm sorry. What do you guys want?" She stood and scribbled everyone's order down on a piece of paper and smiled when she was done. "Alright, your food will be here in little bit." She nodded at Ryo again, showing how sorry she was and turned around, heading for the kitchen. 

"So how was the dance floor guys?" Mia asked, pulling her skirt down. 

Kento bit his lip as hard as he could, a cheap grin plastered on his lips. "It was fine!"

Ryo refrained from replying. 

"Well... Ryo? Was Anne a good dancer?" Cye asked.

He shrugged, "It was okay."

Kento chugged the last of his beer, groaning, "Who wants to go and get another drink with me?" he asked, pounding his beer on the table.

Ryo took the last sip of his and nodded at Kento, "I will."

Kento and Ryo stood up and started to walk over the huge bar. They both grabbed a empty stool and waited for the bartender to help them.

Ryo pulled back his thick locks and pulled down his red sweater. "Kento," he started, quietly, "What if I told you something hypothetically?" 

Kento looked into Ryo's eyes, "Shoot,"

"What if I said I_ thought _I saw Rowen?"

Kento waited to answer, looking for something more in Ryo's eyes. He was looking beyond that wall that he built up, "Ryo, I know you're still upset. But you said yourself that we are here to take our minds off everything. You probably have Rowen on the brain and your brain tricked you into seeing him."

Ryo nodded, "I know, but..." he sighed, "I _swear_ it was him!" 

Kento slapped Ryo's shoulder. "Stop. It's all good. Now lets order a drink." He called the bartender over and ordered two shots. 

"C'mon, Ryo. To tonight." He held up his shot, waiting for Ryo to do the same. 

"To tonight..." Ryo replied. They clinked their glasses together and downed the shots. 

The rest of the night was just a blur to Ryo. Every time he went to the dance floor, it felt like someone was watching him. Waiting for him to mess up. Every once and a while, Ryo could swear that Rowen was around. He kept seeing a blue haired guy. But when he could get a good look at him, he would turn around or fade back into the crowd. 10:30 quickly became 2:00 and Mia was rounding up everyone to go home. 

"Jesus, Kento," Mia mumbled underneath his weight as he helped him to the car. "How much did you drink? You're plastered!"

"Tha's no righ.... I onlee had..." Kento miserably held up three fingers, "Tres drinkos."

Cye laughed in his own drunken state. "Good job, Kent. You beat us all."

Ryo felt like being sick as soon as he sat down in the car. He grabbed his stomach, feeling the acid climb up his throat. 

"Ugh... guys, I'm going to be sick..." He stood up and got out of the car.

"Where are you going, Ryo?" Mia asked, hinting anger.

"Mi, I'm going to hurl. Lemme go to the bathroom at leas."

She shook her head and waved him off with her hand. "If you're not back in 5 minutes, we're leaving without you."

He nodded and dragged himself towards the entrance again. He finally made his way inside and to the restroom, barely missing the toilet. He groaned, hearing other guys do the same. 

_'God dammit,' _he thought to himself. _'I hate this.'_

He stomach feeling a little better, and a little lighter, he went to the sink. He washed his mouth out and splashed his face with water, then looked in the mirror to see how bad he looked. He rubbed his eyes, then blinked a couple of times, finally resting them on Rowen.

Rowen was behind him, staring into his eyes. He looked pissed. 

Ryo whipped around, but no one was there. He felt the goose bumps flame his arms. 

"Alright, Rowen. What's going on?" he said quietly to himself, still looking around the bathroom.

There was nothing to reply to him. No one was left in the bathroom either.

Ryo turned back around and splashed his face again. He looked at himself in the mirror again. Rowen was right next to him, breathing down his neck.

_"Ryo, what are you doing here?"_

"What the _fuck_?!" Ryo screamed, swatting at whatever was just there. He wouldn't believe that it was Rowen, there was no way it could've been. "Whoever it is better stop!" he cried out in blind anger.

"Ryo..." echoed in the bathroom.

Ryo jumped, hearing the vent come on. "It's just the heat, Ryo. chill the hell out..." he said to himself. But as it blew, white feathers started to float down.

"Rowen!" Ryo almost screamed. "If this is really you, why are you _fucking_ around?! Come out, come out and show me!"

The restroom door opened and slammed shut. 

Dead silence followed. Ryo breathed heavily, listening to his own heart beat. 

"Ryo."

Ryo flipped around, his stunned tiger blue eyes hauntingly being started into by a pair of clear blues.

Rowen stood there, shirtless and pale. His eyes were an eerie colored blue and his blue hair had somehow lightened. Lofty and weightless wings floated behind him, white feathers falling to the ground.

Ryo couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't do anything but stare into the blue eyes that so dangerously provoked him. "... Rowen?" he whispered through his crackled lips, not any higher than a whisper.

Rowen closed his eyes and took a step back, leaning against the wall.

Ryo felt the tears forming in his eyes. "What... what happened? All this time... and you have nothing to say to me?" Ryo cried, crystal clear tears crawling down his cheeks. 

Rowen slowly opened his eyes, tilting his head to the side. He fixed defiant stare into Ryo's tiger blue eyes. 

Ryo squinted his eyes, wondering if what was happing was real. "Rowen?"

"Ryo...." Rowen blinked, one single tear tracing the side of his face. "Tell me why..."

Ryo creased his eyebrows together, "Tell you what, Rowen?"

Suddenly, the bathroom door slammed open, Anne appearing behind Ryo. 

Ryo looked back to where Rowen was, but he was no longer there. 

  


  


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	11. Reliving the Past

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

Ryo didn't sleep all night. He kept thinking about Rowen. He couldn't believe anything that had happened. His mind raced with his new thoughts of Rowen; his unnatural eyes, his wings... he couldn't believe that Sage was actually right. 

_"Ryo? Ryo!" Anne yelled shaking me. "What happened?! Are you okay?"_

I didn't know what was going on anymore. Rowen had suddenly appeared and disappeared in the same way. Was I going insane? "I don't know, Anne. I don't know."

_"Well, please. Let me help you. Mia is worried about you." _

Anne took my hand and helped me up off the floor. I knew that she had helped me outside and exchanged phone number's with Mia, for what reason I didn't know. I don't remember the ride home much... a few clips of Mia and Cye talking, Kento mumbling jibberish. 

"Now, I'm here.... what the hell," Ryo pressed his fingers against his temples, groaning. Deciding he couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried, he got up, and headed towards Sage's bedroom.

Silently, he opened the door and peeked inside. 

Sage was bundled into a tight ball, his face pressed hard into the pillow. Tuffs of blonde hair stuck out from underneath the blankets, making Ryo smile. 

_'He looks... so peaceful.'_ Ryo thought to himself as the smile faded away. '_Why am I here? I can't wake him up.' _

Sage rustled in his sleep, moaning a little as he shifted to his back. 

__

Ryo sighed as his last glance over Sage passed. He silently closed the door behind him and walked back up to his room. Ryo sucked his teeth as he laid down in his bed, wondering if he could be able to fall back asleep. 

:~*~*~*~:

"Rowen, what are you doing?" Sage asked, chuckles sliding through his lips as Rowen poured peppermint vodka on Sage's throat, then presumed to lick it off. 

"Teasing you," Rowen replied, his warm tongue gracing the side of Sage's neck. 

Sage shivered with arousal, "Ro, you better stop doing that if you know what's good for you."

Rowen stopped and locked his deep blue eyes with Sage's violet ones, "Oh really?"

Sage bit his lip, suppressing the laugh that wanted to come out, "Rowen, you know that if you keep doing that, we'll both be upstairs in a matter of seconds.'

Rowen licked his bottom lip, chuckling. "So? What would you say if I said I wanted it to be like that?"

Sage smirked. "Then-"

Kento licked the rim of the empty vodka bottle, interrupting Sage's comment, "Dudes! We need more!"

Ryo looked across the room at all his friends, "How many did all you have?"

Rowen shrugged, "I only had 2."

Kento jumped up, "Go to the store and get some more!" He jerked back, "Hey, that rhymes! Go to the store and get some more! Go to the store and get some more!"

Ryo laughed. "You're a dumb-ass."

Cye chuckled but then paused to bite his lip, "That's not really a good idea, Kent. On a serious note anyways."

"Why not? He'ss the most sober-est of us all."

Ryo nodded, "Yesh."

Rowen nodded, "I'll go as long as I get first dibs on it when I get back!"

A round of cheers replied.

Sage grabbed the car keys and met Rowen at the door. "Ro," Sage started softly, "Please be careful."

Rowen nodded, "I promise, Sage." Rowen smiled in a reassuring way, giving Sage's hand a gentle squeeze. 

Sage smirked and leaned forward quickly, catching Rowen off-guard in a lip-locking kiss. After a moment, Rowen pulled away and reached for the door handle.

"I see you in a little bit, love."

Sage watched Rowen pull out of the driveway and down the road. Then, in a weird twist, Sage was placed in the passenger seat. He looked around, confused for a little bit, but a smile crawled on his lips when he heard Rowen singing to his favorite song. 

"Rowen," Sage asked, "Be careful on this road, its icy."

Rowen kept humming and singing to his song. 

Sage noticed that 35 MPH soon reached 45 MPH. "Rowen!" 

Rowen didn't pay the slightest attention. 

Sage, now getting frustrated, tried to grab Rowen's shoulder. His hand went straight through him. "Damn it!" he cursed, watching the speed gauge go up, floating around 55 MPH. 

"ROWEN!" Sage screamed at the top of his lungs, trying his best to reach his attention somehow. But no use. 

Sage watched as Rowen lost control of the car going around a turn. He felt the car as it rolled down the hill, roll after roll, hitting small trees and rocks on the way down. The car came to a rough stop as it hit a huge tree. 

Sage had tears in his eyes. Rowen was dead. Blood was everywhere. He didn't even get to say goodbye to him. Sage started to cry. 

In the midst of Sage's soundless sobs, there was a noise. Sage stopped to listen. He strained his ears so much, that he felt a little bit of blood trickle out of them. But he heard it.

Heartbeat.

"Rowen?" Sage whispered. 

Rowen groaned and put a weary hand up to his forehead, "Oh.... my gods...." Rowen whispered, his eyes finally focusing on all that was around him. "What.... happened?"

"Rowen!" Sage cried, "You're alive, Rowen!" He reached forward to hug him, but Sage forgot. He didn't do so much as make Rowen's muscles twitch. 

Rowen looked around again, looking for anything that would get him attention. His eyes set on the car horn. Rowen pressed the horn with all his might, holding it for as long as his broken hand could. When he couldn't hold it any longer, he pulled away, crying out in pain for his hands. 

He looked up, letting out a sigh of relief that he could get out. He forced the door open and crawled out. 

Sage tried to grab him, "Rowen, don't go! It's too cold!" But failing in all his attempts, Sage could only watch as Rowen exhaustedly pulled himself along, step after step. 

Rowen collapsed. "Sage! I'm sorry!"

Sage got out of the car and ran up to him, wanting to much to hold him.

"Sage... please.... forgive me.... I loved you so so much!" Rowen tried to scream, but wound up sobbing. 

Sage started crying, "Rowen, its okay! I love you! I love you!" Sage tried to grab Rowen's hand, but unable to grasp it, he just left it there, hoping it would give Rowen some sort of relief.

Rowen looked at the blood trail he left behind him and started to cry again. "Sage..."

"I'm right here, Rowen! Tell me what you want me to do! Let me help you!" 

Rowen licked his blue lips and blinked his blood coated eyes, "I love you."

Sage could feel his heart stop. He watched as Rowen died. He died. Sage got up and ran back to the car, pounding on the horn. 

:~*~*~*~:

Sage jolted in his bed, cold sweat tracing his face. He looked at the clock, 2:30. He looked outside the window, noticing that it was day. Sage was confused. 

Someone knocked on the door. 

"Come in," Sage replied, weakly.

Ryo walked in, closing the door behind him. "Wow, I'm surprised you're up." 

Sage just blinked, not knowing what to say. 

"Are you okay? Hungry? You haven't eaten in awhile."

Sage softly shook his head, "No... but thanks anyways."

"Are you sure?" 

Sage nodded. "Just... I need time to myself. I had a weird dream." Sage's voice trailed off. 

Ryo looked hurt. "A-alright." Ryo started to walk out the door, but as he got there, Ryo whispered, "I believe you, Sage."

Sage creased his eyebrows, "You... what?"

"I believe you. I saw Rowen too."

Sage looked confused, "But... but Rowen's dead."

Those words hit Ryo like a ton of bricks, "Wha-What?!"

Sage rubbed his eyes, "What? He is... isn't he?"

"I... I...." Ryo couldn't find the words to say. "well, yes! but..."

Sage locked his confused bright eyes with Ryo's, "But what?"

Ryo blinked a couple of times, then quickly said, "I need to get some fresh air." He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. 

  


  



	12. Acception

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

Sage sighed. "What is Rowen doing to me?" He grabbed a lock of hair from his head and tugged at it, looking down at his bed. "I can't deal with this anymore..." Sage mumbled as he took a sigh, almost losing himself. He looked up at the ceiling and blinked a couple of times, trying not to let his tears fall. With a heavy exhale, he stood from his bed and walked over to the window.

Ryo was standing out in the middle of the yard, his arms crossed over his chest. Sage could tell there was a light breeze in the air by how Ryo's thick locks of black hair floated and waved around his head. He never moved, looking like one cold statue. Sage suddenly felt some emotion for him.

"What the hell?" he asked himself, ripping his eyes away from Ryo. He felt almost guilty for Ryo. And at the same time, he wanted to give something in return for his kindness. For he was the only one who, Sage thought, cared. 

Sage grabbed his forehead, a sudden sting slapping him in the back of his head. He heard something and turned around, locking eyes with Rowen.

"Rowen... wha-what?" 

Rowen stared hard into Sage's purple eyes, "What are you doing...?"

"What are YOU doing? You're supposed to be DEAD!"

"That's what everyone said I was."

"But Rowen..." Sage fumbled for words, "I.. I do-"

"You what, Sage?"

Sage glared at Rowen, carrying his eyes over his almost translucent body, his white, white wings, and his icy stare. Sage stared hard into Rowen's clear eyes, a sudden mix of emotions screaming to be let loose.

"I can't do this anymore! It's taking way too much out of me!" Sage stuttered, pausing for a brief second to take in what came out of his mouth. Realizing that Rowen had nothing to say, Sage continued, "I've realized that I can't move one _with _you. I need time... time to figure out what I want to do..." Sage mumbled the last part, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. 

Rowen chewed on the inside of his cheek. "What you're saying is that you don't want to be with me anymore."

Sage sighed, "Rowen, how _can_ I be with you?"

Rowen looked away from Sage's cold stare. "Sage...."

"Rowen. I can't. All this.... the doctor, the dream, the guys... how am I supposed to move on?"

Rowen licked his lips, sighing almost peacefully. "Sage. I've been waiting for this."

Sage's mouth dropped to the floor, "You _what_? Nani?"

Rowen's pink lips twitched into a smile, "You had to come to this conclusion by yourself. Now that things are... well, normal, I can return to my rightful place."

Sage couldn't see anything but blotches of color through his teary eyes, "But, Rowen... I didn't mean it like that! I still love you! I want you to stay..."

Rowen pressed his lips together, "Sage, I know that you'll move on. You're strong. That's what I loved you for."

Sage shook his head, "No, Rowen, no!"

"Sage, stop it. You-"

"But what about Ryo? Ryo said that he saw you! How are you going to deal with that?"

Rowen sighed, chuckling a little, "Ryo needed an extra push. I felt that if I didn't do anything about it, he was going to forget about you."

Sage tilted his head to the side, "I'm confused, Ro."

Rowen took a step towards Sage, "Just trust me, okay?"

Sage reluctantly nodded his head, blinking a tear away. He sighed and whispered, "Rowen... I'll miss you."

Rowen bit his bottom lip to hold back his emotion, "Sage, don't say that. I'll always be with you. You should know that."

"But how will I know when you're with me and when you're not?"

Rowen outstretched his arms and embraced Sage, tightly, "...You'll know."

Sage buried his face into Rowen's shoulder. He felt like crying his eyes out but something calmed him. Something comforted him. Maybe because now he knew that Rowen was going to be with him... forever. He didn't need to be told, he felt it in his heart. 

"Sage..." Rowen started, locking his dark blues with Sage's, "I _love _you. Never ever forget that." He leaned in, brushing his nose with Sage's and gave him one last departing kiss. 

Sage felt a chill race down his spine, like something touched his soul. He was finally content. 

"I love you, Rowen." Sage whispered as their kiss broke.

Rowen started to fade with each passing second. 

"Goodbye-" Sage mumbled.

"No, not goodbye," Rowen said, "See you around."

Sage smiled with satisfaction, "See you around."

-~-~*~-~-

Ryo sighed, finally letting the cold get to him. He shivered and turned around, heading back to the house. '_Why did Sage say that? Is he finally over it?'_ Ryo thought to himself as he walked back inside. He glanced up the stairwell, his clear blue eyes full of questions. _'Maybe if we talk we can work something out,' _Ryo said to himself as he started to drag his feet up the stairs. He got to Sage's room and knocked on the door, being a little surprised to see it open.

Sage was standing next to the window, slouching a little. His body shifted up and down as he inhaled and exhaled very deeply. His blonde hair was messy and his clothes looked bigger on his body, like he had lost weight that he wasn't supposed to lose. 

Ryo helped himself into the bedroom, scuffing his feet on the ground as he walked, and sat down on Sage's bed. 

Sage didn't move or even seem to acknowledge that Ryo was in the room.

Ryo sighed to himself and sat his eyes on Sage's exposed shoulders due to his oversized shirt. He opened his mouth slowly, wanted to extend the time that Ryo had to gather his thoughts, "Sage?" he asked softly, his voice cracking.

Sage turned his head quickly, his glazed lilac eyes finding Ryo's indigo ones immediately. That one look of sorrow from Sage made Ryo weak in the knees. 

"Ryo?" Sage asked, not any louder than a whisper.

Ryo sat there for a few moments, trying to interpret Sage's mood, but, as always, it was close to impossible. "A-are you alright, Sage?" Ryo finally made out, worry creasing his forehead. "You look... upset."

Sage sighed, a small smile slipping onto his mouth, "Ryo, I'm sorry if I upset you earlier...." he waited for a response, but the only one he got was a pair of worried eyes. "Ryo, I've just come to realize that even though Rowen isn't here anymore... he's still inside of me."

"Well, even you said yourself that you saw Rowen... how do you explain that? Because I saw him too."

"I think the only explanation for that is what Dr. Murphy said to me. Love is powerful. Love can make you see things and experience things with a part of ourselves that we never use." Sage paused to sit down next to Ryo. "And maybe we did see him... but maybe it was just a fragment of our imagination. But that doesn't matter anymore..." Sage got quiet and looked at the floor. 

"Sage..." Ryo quickly extended his arms and hugged him. He hugged Sage for so long so tightly that Sage could feel him arms go numb. When Ryo finally released him, he sat back and stared into Sage's eyes. Something strong stared back at him. Stared through him. Ryo caught himself trying to lose himself in Sage's eyes.

"Are you finally going to be okay then?" Ryo asked softly, licking his lips.

Sage nodded, firmly, "Yes."

~*~

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was a little boring, but more action an drama to be in the next one! r&r

  


  



	13. Gabrielle

~AUTHORS NOTE:: hey hey, I'm terribly sorry for the more than 2 month wait for this, but I had college papers and school projects and going out of town and other crap. So, again, I apologize and this story will take another roll - continually!

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

****

*~ONE YEAR LATER~*

Sage scratched the inside of his palm, biting his lip impatiently. He was waiting for Ryo to get home. 

"What time was his class supposed to get over with?" Sage almost yelled to Cye. 

Cye looked at the clock. "About half an hour ago."

Sage cursed under his breath. "What is taking him so long?"

"Maybe traffic is really bad. It IS 5:30 you know." 

Sage rolled his tongue under his upper lip. "Yeah. Maybe. I just want to leave!"

Cye smiled, his fingers rubbing the folded invitation. He opened it again, reading it to himself. _'A dance party you'll never forget.' _It was an invitation to Mia's Christmas party. He, along with Kento and Sage, couldn't wait. "I wonder how Mia is..." Cye mumbled more to himself, but Sage replied.

"I know! I want Kento to finish getting ready and I want Ryo to get here so we can LEAVE!" Sage spoke all too fast.

Cye chuckled, "He'll get here." He turned towards the stairwell, "KENTO!" he yelled, "ARE YOU DONE, YET?"

Kento stumbled down the stairs, almost falling on his primped face, "Whoa- yeah!" He grabbed the sides of his suit, pulling himself in a confident stance. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Sage grinned, "Good." He adjusted his black tuxedo and green tie. "Now, where the hell is Ryo?"

"RIGHT here." Ryo said, stepping into the kitchen. His wide eyes followed him as he noticed all his friends in black tuxedos. "What's going on guys?"

"Get dressed!" Sage replied, a playful smile trailing his words, "We're going to a party."

-~-~*~-~-

Ryo followed behind his three friends into the house, trying to fix his hair. "Why didn't you guys tell me that Mia was throwing a party? I would've looked a LOT nicer than this!" he complained.

Sage looked back just before he got to the door, "You look fine, but," Sage straightened Ryo's blood red vest and pulled his black tie a little tighter, "There. NOW you look fine."

Ryo bit his lip, smiling, "Thanks."

Kento rang the doorbell. "Hope the party's bumping!"

Mia answered the door. All the boy's jaws dropped in shock. She was dressed in a sparkling red knee-high dress, dangling diamond earrings, and black strapped high-heel shoes..

"DAMN!" Kento shouted.

Ryo could only stare.

Sage smiled, shaking his head. "So, Mia, are you going to invite us inside?" 

Mia smirked. "Of course. But I want you guys to meet someone." She took a step backwards, grabbing someone beside her. He was tall, had black hair, and amazing emerald green eyes. "Guys, meet my Fiance, Rylan. "

All the guy's mouths hit the floor. 

Rylan gave a little wave and said, "I've heard so much about you four."

Sage had to hold back his smile. He had never seen such sparkling eyes before.

Cye nudged Kento's arm as they walked into the house, "Isn't it odd?"

Kento fused his eyebrows, "What are ya talking about?"

"How much Rylan looks like Ryo?"

Kento cocked a smile, "Heh. Now that you said something, you _do _have a point."

Sage was overcome by how many people were actually in the house. He had never seen so many faces and he had no idea how many friends Mia had. "Do you _know_ all these people?" Sage almost shouted, hoping Mia could hear him over the crowd and music.

Mia gave him a flirty laugh, "Of course not! I just invited some people from work and... well, here's my party! Isn't it great?"

Sage smiled at her innocence.

"So why aren't you hitting the bar? I bought everything from beer to sake! Go!" Mia gave him a little push towards the wooden bar she had in her house, "Go get something to refresh yourself!"

Sage shrugged and walked over the to bar, meeting Ryo. 

"What's with Rylan? Where the heck did Mia meet him?" Ryo grumbled, chugging a beer. 

Sage pulled the beer away from him, "Stop it. You're here to have fun and whining like a little girl isn't your idea of fun... _I _should_ know._" 

Ryo stared at him from the corner of his eyes, perceiving that his eyes had a sort of weird twinkle to them, "Sage, you think Rylan's cute, don't cha?"

Sage could feel the blood rushing to his face, "What are you talking about-no!"

Ryo spit out a laugh, "Yeah, I know how you work, don't play dumb!" 

Sage rolled his eyes, grabbing the bottle of vodka as he mixed it with some cranberry juice. "If that's what you think, then that's _your_ problem."

Ryo bit his lip, holding back a menacing laugh. "See you on the dance floor."

Sage sighed, taking a sip of his drink as his eyes followed Ryo to the dance floor. But his eyes were soon matched with a set of green ones.

"Are you okay?" Rylan asked as he took a swallow of his drink, never letting his eyes leave Sage's. "You look a little troubled."

Sage blinked himself out of the trance, "Yeah, just fine. There's so many people here that I'm just waiting for someone-"

"Waiting for someone to do what?" Rylan replied, question lingering in his eyes.

Sage shrugged. "I don't know. But enough about me, how did you and Mia meet?" He looked to the floor, rubbing his arm with his free hand.

Rylan chuckled at Sage's uneasiness. "Ah, well. We work at the same place and one day, we just bumped into each other, literally." He smiled brightly as though he had made a clever joke.

"That's weird." It was the only thing Sage could make out. 

Rylan laughed, "How so?"

"I don't know. It just seems like you're not quite Mia's type or something. I've known her for awhile and-"

"You don't think I'm suited enough for her?"

Sage was stumbling for words, "No, it's not that, its just-"

"I think I know what you mean. You are... Sage, am I correct?"

"Yes, and what do you mean you know what I mean... or think?" Sage nervously rubbed the back of his neck, dumbfounded, "Does Mia talk about me or something?"

Rylan laughed out-loud, "Slow down there. I know what you mean because she told me about Rowen."

Sage got quiet and stared at the ground.

"Bad subject, I know. I apologize."

"No, its okay. You just think I'm hitting on you." Sage's voice remained quiet as his eyes remained glued to the floor.

Rylan sighed, smiling. He put his hand on Sage's shoulder. "Sage, it's alright. I used to be like that too. In fact, I take it as a compliment. But Mia... she's just a wonderful woman. She's turned my life around."

Sage felt the blood in his head returning to the rest of his body. "Mia _is_ one-of-kind."

"Its a whole different ball field but its definitely worth the try." Rylan ended his sentence with a sweet smile. "Now, you go and have fun tonight and maybe we'll have a talk later or something." He held up his glass, grinned, and started walking towards Mia.

Sage let out a huge sigh. _'Glad that's over with'. _His attention focused back on the dance floor, a smile tracing his lips as he saw Ryo. As usual, he was making a fool out of himself.

"C'mon, Sage!" Ryo shouted, noticing that Sage was staring at him. "Join me!"

Sage shook his head, laughing. "Maybe I will after I'm caught up with you in drinks!"

Ryo didn't take no for an answer. He whispered something to the girl dancing next to him and the girl smiled. She started to walk over to Sage.

"Oh no. Sorry, I don't dance," Sage tried miserably to avoid the girl's grasp, but she grabbed onto his arms and dragged him out to the floor. 

"C'mon, dance with me!" She shouted, grabbing his hips and pushing them side to side.

"No, no, no!" Sage pried her hands off of him and tried to get away but Ryo was next to him now. Ryo grabbed his waist strongly, whipped him around, and held onto his face.

"Sage, you need to be more care-free. Stop being such a tight-ass."

Sage was appalled, "Wh-what?"

"Even though you DO have a tight-ass, you need to stop acting like one." Ryo smirked, locking his glazed eyes with Sage's.

Sage's mouth dropped, "Ryo-"

"Shh." Ryo pressed his index finger against the softness of Sage's lips. His smile turned sweet to mischievous. 

"Ryo, you've had too much to drink already and I don't think you should be looking at me like that." Sage replied sternly.

Ryo shook his head, "I haven't had more than a couple of drinks and I always look at you like this. I guess its just taken you this long to notice."

Sage felt something crawling up his throat. "Excuse me?"

Ryo rolled his eyes playfully. Then he leaned his head forward and pressed his beer flavored lips against Sage's. He ran his hand smoothly through Sage's hair and then, without any notice, shoved his tongue into Sage's mouth. 

For one intense second, Sage felt blackness everywhere. All his insides numbed with immeasurable guilt. A guilt he still had for Rowen.

Sage pushed Ryo off and held back the instinct to punch him. His eyes were red with confusion and hatred. "What the hell?!"

Ryo cocked his head to the side, "Isn't that what you wanted? All those times that you flirted with me?"

Sage was disgusted. All the words that boiled in his mind wanted to come out, but he didn't have the heart to. Instead, he just stood there, his eyes wide and his mouth open. 

Ryo squinted his eyes. "Oh... so I'm not as good as Rowen or something?"

Sage felt like the wind was knocked out of him. He was suffocating. Starting to feel lightheaded, Sage found feeling in his legs and stormed out onto the back porch.

He gripped the wooden gate so hard that his hands went numb. He felt like being sick. It was almost this dark guilt lurking in the back his mind and he wanted to cry. He thought about what Ryo said, _'I always look at you like this. I guess it's just taken you this long to notice' _went over and over in his mind. He was every emotion at the same time and it didn't take long for him to black out.

"Are you okay?" 

Sage groaned, fluttering his eyelids.

Someone shook him a little. "Hey. Wake up. Talk to me!"

Sage focused on bright blue eyes. They looked like Rowen's. "Huh?"

"Oh, good! You blacked out... I don't know if you've had too much to drink or not, but you hit your head pretty hard on the ground. Can you see how many fingers I'm holding up?"

Sage counted three small fingers, and noticed that there were rings on each of them. He sat up and finally saw the face that the pair of blue eyes belonged to. She was young, with short golden brown hair and bright pink lips.

"Are you okay now? Do you need something to drink?"

Sage pressed his hand against his forehead, "No, no more alcohol."

The girl laughed, "No, I meant like water or orange juice. It'll help a little. And do you need some ice?" she lightly brushed her hand against the side of Sage's head, "You have quite a bump there."

Sage returned the girl's smile truthfully. "No. I'm fine. Thanks, but I just need to sit here for awhile."

She paused, looking deep into Sage's eyes, trying to read them. "Something's bothering you... anything I can do to help?"

Sage returned her stare, "No, it's not your problem. I'm just too stupid sometimes."

She bit her lip, "It's not your fault."

Sage cocked an eyebrow, "How do you figure that?"

"I saw you when you came out here. You grabbed the railing and looked around a lot like you were paranoid. Then you looked sick. You're face got really pale and you fell over backwards." She paused to take a breath. "I don't know about you but the same thing happened to me when I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me."

"Well..." Sage started, finally awake and aware, "It happened kind of like that. More a guilt trip than anything."

"So you cheated on your girlfriend?"

Sage pursed his lips, "Something like that, except I didn't make the moves."

The girl smiled, showing she understood.

"You know," Sage started, staring at her amazingly familiar eyes, "You look really familiar. What was your name?"

"Gabrielle."

Sage huffed, "And we've never met before?"

She shrugged, "I don't think so. You don't really look all that familiar."

"Maybe I've seen your face before. By the way, name's Sage."

Gabrielle nodded, "Well, now that we're acquainted, do you want to go inside and get some water? I'm still worried that you hit you're head a little too hard."

Sage smiled, "No, it's really okay. Just help me up." Sage outstretched his arms.

Gabrielle got up and pulled Sage to his feet. But all the blood rushed to Sage's head again and he felt a little light headed. 

"Yeah," he mumbled, stumbling a little, "I might need some water after all."

Gabrielle chuckled softly and helped him inside, letting him lean on her shoulders. She walked slowly over to the bar and filled a cup full of water.

"Here," she said, "drink."

Sage gulped down as much as he could before he had to break to breath. Then he set the cup down and took a deep breath. Gabrielle handed him an aspirin and Sage took another gulp.

"Do you feel better now?" Gabrielle asked, smiling slyly.

Sage nodded, "Much."

"Good. Now, do you want to go sit down somewhere and relax for a little bit? Like over in the living room by the fireplace?"

Sage smiled and agreed. He started to follow her into the living room, but took a sudden halt when his eyes found Ryo's.

Gabrielle picked up the hostility coming from Sage and stood a little closer to him when Ryo approached them.

"Sage," Ryo started, pausing to find words, "I just want to say, I'm sorry."

Sage's only reply was the glare he tore into Ryo's eyes. 

"I just thought that things could be different between us-"

"Ryo, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Gabrielle. Gabrielle, Ryo."

Gabrielle looked at him strangely, but quietly agreed to play along with whatever game her new friend was playing. "Nice to meet you, Ryo." She said, nodding her head.

Ryo was lost for words, "_Girl_ friend?"

"Yes," Sage's violet eyes were locked in an icy stare, "girlfriend."

Ryo cleared his throat and made a gesture towards Gabrielle, showing he understood. Then he coughed a little and walked passed them, quickly.

Sage brought out a competitive chuckle and continued to walk over to a couch in the room.

Gabrielle ran up and sat next to him, her face a smile of confusion, "What was that all about?"

"Nothing. I just needed to get him off my back-" Sage quickly found Gabrielle's eyes, "No offense to you or anything, I didn't mean it like that."

"None taken. Hell, I would be your girlfriend any time." She followed with a playful laugh.

Sage smiled sweetly, "Thanks for playing along."

She nodded, "So, who is your _real_ girlfriend anyways?"

Sage stared into the fire, that sweet smile still lingering on his lips. It didn't even seem like he had heard her. His eyes diverted to Mia and her new Fiance, Rylan, who were talking quietly on the couch next to them. Her legs were draped over Rylan's lap and every other few words they spoke, they kissed. It was like they were meant for each other. 

_'They look so happy.'_

"Sage?"

He turned and faced her, gazing deep into her ocean blue eyes. "You are."

  


  



	14. Memories

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

-~-~*~-~-

The ride home was deathly quiet. Ryo sat behind the drivers seat, his blank eyes staring out the window. Kento was passed out right next to him, drool dripping off his chin. Cye drove slowly and took sharp corners. Sage could tell he was tired. But as for himself, Sage felt satisfied.

It was as if something inside him was complete, the hole inside of his heart had mended somehow. Gabrielle was one of the very, _very _few people in the world that he felt he could relate too. In those two hours that he sat by the fireplace with her, they connected in a way that Sage felt was ironic. Sometimes it felt as though he were talking to Rowen. 

"What's that smile about, Sage?" Cye asked playfully, taking his glance from the road for only a second to meet eyes with Sage to show his interest. 

Sage laughed to himself, "Just thinking about the party." His grin continued to shine as he glanced down at the piece of paper he was holding. It was Gabrielle's number.

"You know, that girl you were with was pretty cute. And I think I speak for everyone when I say what a surprise it was to see you with her. Or with any girl for that matter."

Sage laughed again to himself, "Sorry."

Cye shook his head, "Don't apologize, its just... different, you know?"

Sage nodded, showing he understood. "Yeah," he muttered, ignoring Ryo's snort, "I know exactly what you mean."

"So are you guys friends or something more?" Cye replied, making Sage blush a little.

He shrugged, "She's... she is just a girl that I can relate to in every way."

Cye smiled, then took a deep breath as they pulled into the driveway, finally home.

"Well, someone needs to help me carry Kento into the house." Cye said tiredly as he glanced back at Kento.

"I'll help," Ryo suddenly spoke up, clearing his throat. 

Sage sighed and opened his door. He knew that it was close to four in the morning, but he didn't care. As he slipped into his covers, a smile of complete contentment passed over his lips. He closed his eyes, feeling as though he was in a dream or falling under some spell.

"Could what I am feeling, be real? Be true?" Sage said to himself. He buried his face deeper into his pillow and took another sigh. "I don't care. It feels so right."

~*~

The next morning, at around 10:30, the phone rang.

"SAGE!" Cye yelled from downstairs, "PHONE!"

Sage got up, grumbling about why someone was calling him so early in the morning, and walked himself over to the phone across the hall. He picked up the receiver, "Hullo?"

"Hey cutie."  
Sage smiled, recognizing the voice, "How'd you get my number, Gabi?"

"I'm sneaky, that's how."

Sage chuckled, "Alright. So what do you want so early this morning?"

"You."

Sage raised an eyebrow, "Oh really."

"And some coffee." She laughed a little, "I wanted to know if I can come pick you up and we can go out for some coffee and maybe some breakfast."

"Sounds great. Give me like 20 minutes."

"You have 10. I'm already on my way."

Sage gave a whining groan, "But-"

"Go! Get in the shower and throw on some clothes! See you in ten!" 

Sage couldn't say anything more before she hung up the phone. With a chuckle, he waved his hand through his blonde locks, oblivious to the fact that Ryo was right behind him.

About 15 minutes later, Sage came out of the bathroom, smelling good and dressed well. He ran downstairs and almost at the exact time he reached the last step, there was a knock at the door. 

Cye ran to answer the door, not surprised to see Gabrielle in the doorway. "Hi," he replied, stepping to the side to let her inside. Gabrielle nodded at Cye and stepped inside.

"Hey," Sage said softly as his eyes met with hers. 

"Ready to go?" She said, all smiles.

Sage nodded, following her to the door.

Ryo grabbed his upper arm, watching them leave as he chewed on the inside of his cheek.

~*~

"Do you know a guy named Rowen... Rowen Hashiba?" Sage asked rather softly as they sat together in the town coffee shop. 

Gabrielle took a sip of her drink and ran her tongue underneath her upper lip, "No... I don't really recall hearing that name anywhere." She took another sip and made eye contact with Sage. "Can I ask why?"

Sage stared at his drink, stirring it slowly with a spoon, "No reason. You just kinda remind me of him. He was a good friend of mine."

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, "Was?" 

Sage bit his lip, "Yeah, something like that."

Gabrielle nodded softly, sucking her teeth. "So is it bad that I remind you of him?"

"No, no... nothing like that. It didn't end on a bad note or anything," Sage replied, lying. "He was my best friend."

"So its a good thing then." She responded, smiling.

"So, how's your coffee?" Sage asked, trying to change the subject.

Gabrielle nodded, "It's fine, how's yours?'

Sage agreed, "Its good."

A uncomfortable silence decided to come forward, diverting Sage's ears to the rest of the conversations that were going on in the shop. 

"So what are the rest of your plans for today?" Gabrielle stated, quietly stalking Sage's eyes.

He shrugged, "Eh, nothing really. Sitting around the house and sleeping."

Gabrielle replied with a soft chuckle, "Sounds like you have a pretty busy day planned out."

Sage smiled, "Yep."

"And can I ask you something else?"

Sage smirked, "Anything."

"Are those contacts or is that the natural color of your eyes?"

Sage couldn't help but to laugh out-loud, "They're real. You know, you're the first person to ask me that."

Gabrielle blushed, "Well, they're beautiful... it's just rather odd to have that color natural."

Sage ran his tongue along his bottom lip, smiling, "Cut the small talk."

Gabrielle shot her eyes open, gawking into a laugh, "What did you just say?"

"What do you _really_ mean to say?"

"Nothing! I just like your eyes!"

Sage cocked his eyebrows, "Is that all?"

Gabrielle closed her eyes and chomped on her lip, "Alright! I think you're hot!"

Sage laughed a whole-hearted laugh, leaning forward on his elbows as he leaned on the table. He looked back at Gabrielle, her face_ bright_ red. "I don't know what it is, but-"

Sage didn't have the time to finish his sentence, Gabrielle was too fast. Before Sage could think about what was happening, her lips where gently pressed against his, and he found himself kissing back. Gabrielle leaned back, their lips parting smoothly. Gabrielle was the first to open her eyes.

"Sage, I-"

Sage couldn't think straight. It felt right, but something inside him told him differently. He blinked a couple of times, realizing the moment.

"Sage?" Gabrielle almost whispered, looking at him desperately for a response.

"I... I'm sorry, Gabrielle. It's just...." he sighed, trying not to laugh. "It's weird." He nervously looked back up to Gabrielle, staring at a pair of confused eyes. He quickly thought up an excuse. "It's just been forever since I had a girlfriend."

Her confused eyes changed into a pair of amused ones. She shook her head, licking her lips. "Sage. You're a trip."

~*~

Back at the house, Ryo was pacing, trying to find any reason to walk into Sage's room. Every rustle and every giggle sent more adrenaline through Ryo's veins. 

~*~

Sage sat on his back on his bed, looking at the ceiling. Gabrielle was laying on her stomach next to him, playing with his fluffy blonde hair. 

"No offense, but..." Sage sighed, closing his eyes.

"What?"

"It's really awkward sitting here with you." Sage couldn't finish his sentence without laughing.

Gabrielle sighed and rolled over on top of him, pulling down her shirt. "Yeah and we're not even naked," she added with a laugh.

"What is with you?" Sage asked, a huge grin on his face, "Are you always so blunt with your statements?"

She smiled and bit her bottom lip, then crouched over him. "No, I just... there's just something about you." She focused her blue eyes on Sage's, staring into them without blinking.

Sage couldn't stop staring into her eyes. He closed his eyes again, letting all the stress in his lungs out with one exhale. He soon lost himself as he intertwined his fingers with Gabrielle's, moving from her palm to her forearm, smoothly and slowly. Like feathers, her fingers were soft and flowing, moving wherever she wanted them to.

Sage exhaled again, a lost voice finding itself in his throat. "You're so soft," Sage whispered, the tips of his fingers drifting over her arms.

Gabrielle smiled to herself and closed her eyes. She brought her hand up to Sage's face and motioned her index finger up and down the side of his face, tracing his eyebrow. She leaned up and kissed his closed eyes.

Something triggered in the back of Sage's mind. In that one moment, a memory brought itself forward. Rowen. Only Rowen kissed his eyes. Sage suddenly pushed his head up and kissed Gabrielle full on the mouth. He brought his hand behind her neck and continued his kiss, his mind lost in that memory.

Gabrielle smiled, happily kissing him back. Then she broke the kiss, waiting to lock her eyes with his.

Sage stopped, slowly opening his eyes. But Rowen wasn't in his eye sight. He blinked again, confused. "Gabi, I," Sage let out a uncomfortable laugh, bringing a hand through his hair. "Sorry."

"Why do you keep apologizing like you did something wrong?" she complained, her smile wide. She pressed her nose against Sage's and closed her eyes. "It's the total opposite." 

Sage didn't need to reply, Gabrielle's lips had beaten him to it. 


	15. Silent Fighting?

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~

Ryo pounded his fist on the table, groaning loudly.

"Damn, Ryo. Chill out. Don't hurt yourself," Kento replied, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Ryo.

"It's not my hand that hurts," Ryo mumbled, resting his head on the table.

Cye squinted his eyes as he quickly ran his index and middle finger down his face, "What's bothering you, Ryo?"

Ryo grumbled and sat up, "Sage is up there making out with Gabrielle and you're not the _least _bit bothered? What the hell? What the hell did I _miss_?"

Cye suppressed his laugh, "I can't really answer that for you, Ryo."

Kento nodded, agreeing with Cye. "I'm just as bit dumbfounded as you, man."

Ryo grinded his teeth. "Well, someone figure out a reason for me to go and get him."

~*~

Sage grabbed a handful of Gabrielle's hair at the base of her neck and tugged at it playfully, a small groan filling his throat. Gabrielle was a good kisser and she was making him experience sensations that he had never felt before. It was all new to him and, surprisingly, he was loving it.

"How am I doing for you not having a girlfriend in forever?" Gabrielle asking, a mischievous smile floating across her lips. She pushed her hands up his shirt and ran her hands up and down the sides of his chest. 

Sage opened his eyes, staring into the blue ones that were starting right back at him. He paused for a little bit, thinking. "All I have to say is-"

"Sage!" Ryo pounded on the door twice and opened it, too quick for Sage or Gabrielle to make a move. He stood in the doorway, shaking his head, "Figures."

Sage sat up and ran a quick hand through his messy hair, "What do you want, Ryo?"

"I just came to say that there is a storm coming in and if you," Ryo paused to glance at Gabrielle, "want to get home safe, I would leave now. But if you want to stay, I guess it's okay."

Sage's big smile hid the fact that he was pissed off. "_Thanks, _Ryo, but you didn't need to open the door. This IS my room, you know."

"Sorry." Ryo stalked off, leaving the door open.

Sage exhaled heavily, grabbing his temples, "I'm sorry, Gabi. Ryo is an ass sometimes."

Gabrielle laughed a little, "It's okay. But it was nice of him to tell us what's going on. And speaking of, do you want me to stay?"

"Of course." Sage grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap, kissing her forehead. "Why would I want you to leave?"

Gabrielle shrugged, "I don't know, I was just asking."

"Well... you don't need to ask." Sage replied, running his lips over hers.

"Okay." She whispered, giving him a sweet kiss.

~*~

Later that evening as the snow blew down on the house, everyone was seating around the fireplace, talking. That is, everyone except Ryo. Ryo sat off in the kitchen, playing with his own hair, trying not to think about Sage. But it was _so_ difficult. 

Sage was sitting on the couch, leaning against the armchair, his eyes always glued to the blue ones that called to him. Kento and Cye sat in the chairs across from them, casually throwing marshmallows at each other and laughing. 

After catching a few in his mouth, Kento looked up around the room, noticing the missing body, "Whare's Ro at?" Kento muffled, his cheeks puffing with marshmallows. 

Cye pointed to the kitchen, "He's in a bad mood."

Sage rolled his eyes, _"He's just jealous," _he said to himself, smiling at Gabrielle.

"What's wrong? He's been in there for hours." Gabrielle stated, curling the blanket up beneath her chin and rubbing her feet against Sage's. 

Sage huffed, "He's just being a ass, like usual."

Kento tried not to laugh but couldn't help himself. "So go in there and find out why he's being one and bring him back out here."

Sage chewed on his bottom lip, "Yeah... whatever. I'll go see what's eating him. _Even though I already know_." Sage dragged his feet into the kitchen, already done talking to Ryo even though he haven't even started. 

Ryo was in the kitchen, gloomily sitting at the table.

"Alright, Ryo. Help me make this short. What the hell is your problem?" Sage asked quickly, setting his hand on the table next to Ryo and tapping his fingers.

Ryo shook his head, making a disgusted face, "You are my problem! What the hell is going on, Sage? What are you doing with Gabrielle?"

"What do you mean what am I doing? She's my girlfriend now, what am I supposed to do?"

"So what happened with Rowen... you just don't care-"

"Just because I'm with a girl, you have to get all bent out of shape, don't you..."

"No! It's not like that, Sage! I just don't think she's the right kind of girl-"

"Because you're fucking jealous!" Sage hissed back, trying to not raise his voice so as people in the next room wouldn't hear.

Ryo blinked his ballooned eyes, "Wh-What? What the _hell _are you talking about?" 

"You know very _damn_ well what I'm talking about."

Ryo took a huge breath and looked at the ground, "I just want to know what is going on with you. What's with her?"

Sage rolled his tongue along his lips, "You want to know the real reason?" He waited for a response from Ryo, but he really didn't get one. "Honestly, Ryo, she's...." Sage took a second to think, breathing deeply, "She's just everything that Rowen was."

Ryo glared hard into Sage's eyes, not completely believing what he just heard, "You found someone to _replace _Rowen?"

Sage shook his head, "Replace? No. But to make me as happy... yes."

Ryo looked back on to the ground, "Oh."

"But you need to chill out, Ryo. I know the whole thing at Mia's party, but," Sage stopped, wanting to just leave the conversation at that. But he knew that Ryo was hurt. "It's just no one else _is _Rowen. But Gabrielle comes pretty damn close."

Ryo nodded, showing he understood.

"Now... will you come inside and join the rest of us instead of sitting here all by yourself, pouting?"

Ryo closed his eyes and smiled, barely covering the hurt that still lurked inside of him, "Yeah. I'll be there in a second."

"Good." Sage reluctantly grabbed Ryo's shoulder and squeezed it. "I'll see you inside."

Ryo waved him off, waited for him to exit the kitchen, and squeezed the sides of his head. He didn't know what was going on. The one rule he had promised to himself broke as it fell from his heavy blue eyes and hit the table. He looked at it and traced through it with his trembling index finger. His ears picked up the light laugh of the one girl that was in the next room, and then an idea sparked in his head.

_'No girl is perfect... I WILL find something wrong with her.' _Ryo promised to himself. Then he stood up strongly and walked back into the family room.

~*~

"Look at that snow!" Kento shouted as his wide curious eyes stared through the window. "Man, it's crazy out there."

Cye started to laugh, "So why don't you go out there and make us a lovely snowman?!"

Kento rolled his eyes at Cye, "Yeah, right."

"If you go out there, I'll help ya!" Gabrielle spoke up, her smile stretched ear to ear.

Kento's eyes got wide, "Are you serious? You DO know that it's like 7:00 and snowing like hell out there... right?"

Gabrielle nodded, "That's half the fun!" 

"Shit, alright! Let's go!" Kento yelled, standing up and heading towards the front door. He followed Gabrielle out the front door as soon as they got their coats and gloves on. 

Gabrielle ran out the front door, purposely kicking up snow and swooping down to grab handful to toss at Kento as he followed her.

Sage wasn't far behind the two of them, his lips curled in a wide smile. It didn't take him long to catch up to Gabrielle, as he grabbed her waist and swung her around, laughter filling the air. He picked her up off the air and tried to throw her in a nearby snow bank, but she held onto him and pulled him into the fluffy snow with her. 

Kento stood by them, laughing and throwing snowballs at them. 

"I thought we were supposed to make a snowman?!" Gabrielle shouted, laughter trailing. 

"I don't think so!" Kento yelled back, grabbing a handful of snow and shoving it in Gabrielle's face, making her scream. 

"That went down my shirt, Kento!" She hollered, shivering and shaking out the front of her jacket.

Kento only replied with loud snorts and laughter. 

"Well, then. Prepare for a fight you can't win!" She declared, raising her fist in the air and then rushing into the woods.

Sage followed after her, "Gabi!"

Kento stomped his foot, "I'll win! You just wait and see!"

Gabrielle ran into the woods, soon out of breath and bearing rosy cheeks. Sage trampled in behind her, immediately wrapping his arms around her waist. She reached behind Sage's neck and pressed her cheek against his. "Help me find a fort," she replied, grinning.

"A _fort_?! How old are we?"

Gabrielle laughed, "Oh shut up. I need a fort to make snowballs. And besides, it's fun and I'm going to enjoyed beating Kento's ass with tons of them."

"Why don't you just let me take care of it. I can easily pummel his ass," Sage replied with a cocky chuckle. "We don't need a fort, we need surprise. Kento's strong, but he's slow."

Gabrielle laughed to that. "He _is_ kinda big." She looked around in the woods, scanning for big drifts of snow. "Hey, what's that over there?" She pointed towards a big clearing in the distance.

"Oh, that's a small lake-" Sage didn't have time to finish talking before Gabrielle started to walk over towards it. She stopped when she stood right next to the dock. "Is it safe?" She asked, looking back at Sage for an answer.

Sage nodded, chuckling, "Yeah, of course."

Gabrielle grinned and started to walk out onto it. She stopped at the edge and looked down at the frozen surface. "I bet this is really nice during the spring," she said softly, the wind suddenly picking up. 

Sage looked out over the horizon of the lake, memories returning to him. "Yeah... it's not bad."

She turned around and glanced into his eyes. 

Sage soon got uncomfortable with the way she was staring at him, "What is it?"

"Can't I just look into your eyes without you asking me why?" She replied, bringing her hand up to the side of his face and running her thumb along his cheekbone. 

Sage closed his eyes, failing miserably in hiding his smile. He opened his eyes again and only saw her eyes, her blue eyes. He closed his eyes again and saw Rowen in his mind. Sage pushed Gabrielle away and stared hard at the water's surface.

"What's wrong, Sage?" Gabrielle asked, concern in her voice.

Sage licked his lips, his eyes still down, "I can't explain it Gabrielle. You just remind me of someone I once loved... but, it's hard to talk about."

"Well, Sage, if you want to talk about it, I'm here. But if you don't, then don't worry about it. Whatever makes you feel right."

"It's not that easy, Gabi. I really need to tell you but... I can't, I just can't."

She rubbed Sage's shoulder, staring at the ground with him, "It's okay,"

"I'm going to tell you Gabrielle, and I want you to listen hard. This is going to be difficult for you to understand, but I _need_ to tell you. You remember the Rowen guy I asked you about?" Sage started, sighing as he looked for a reply. Gabrielle nodded and Sage continued. "Well, he was mybest friend, and I mean _best friend. _I could tell him anything and wouldn't think twice about it. Soon, like became love and we grew into lovers." Sage paused, swallowing the lump that attached itself inside his throat. 

"And?"

Sage stopped breathing, expecting Gabrielle to say something about what he just admitted to, but she didn't. The worst out, he started again, "Rowen and I grew close, extremely close, and one day he got a letter from a school he was dying to get into. Thinking about future more than love, we both agreed that it was best for him to go. I didn't hear from him for months."

Gabrielle could feel how tense Sage was inside. "So... what happened? You haven't talked to him since?"

Sage shook his head, "No. He finally called one day and said he was coming down to visit over Christmas break. He apologized and said that school had kept him really busy. But he came down and things instantly went back to normal. We had a little party two days before Christmas and everyone got a little drunk," Sage stopped, a smile crawling over his lips, "but we ran out and someone needed to drive to the store. We all agreed that Rowen had the least amount of drinks and sent him off." Sage paused again and roughly put his hands into his pockets, then closed his eyes. "Two hours passed and there was still no sign of him. We called up the store and the guy said he had left over an hour ago. We were confused, praying that he was just a cautious driver, taking his time. But not more than 20 minutes after that call, we got a call from the police department, saying that Rowen was..."

"Sage, stop. You don't need to tell me anymore." Gabrielle took a hold of his shoulders and turned him around so he was facing her. "I'm really sorry."

Sage swiftly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her in comforting force. "You're the only person that I've been able to talk to about that," he whispered. "But, I know it's awkward, but you remind me of him."

Gabrielle pulled away from their embrace and gave him a confused glance, "So, you are only-"

"Before you assume anything, no, I'm not with you because you act like him and things along that line. It's just... you." Sage brushed his hand up against Gabrielle and pushed away the hair that was covering her face. "Your eyes. That's what first made me attracted to you." He leaned his head forward and bound his lips to her, soundly. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a few snowballs came flying down on them. An echo of laughter filled the air around them.

"What the hell?" Sage asked to himself, looking around. 

But they were too late. Soon, they were being attacked by snow, and on top of the fact that it was already hard to see through the snowstorm, Gabrielle soon lost her footing. She grabbed Sage for balance, but he was already stumbling. They fell off the dock and into the bone chilling water. 

"Oh, SHIT!" Kento screamed, running as fast as he feet could carry him to the dock. Ryo wasn't far behind. Their ears filled with cries for help and a particularly long scream from Gabrielle. They both rushed to the edge of the dock and fell to their stomachs, reaching for the two that fell in. 

Ryo shot his eyes around, looking around the black water, finding no sign of either of them. But then, a small cloud of something blue floated towards the surface. Ryo reached his freezing hand into the water and attempted to grab whoever it was. He felt a hand grab onto his and with all his might, pulled it up. But he got a glimpse of something that wasn't expecting. 

Rowen.

Those two blues eyes stared back at him and the more Ryo tried to blink the image out of his head, the more it was him. 

"What the _fuck_?!" Ryo screamed and pushed himself back onto his behind. His eyes were wide and full of horror. 

Kento screamed at him, cursing for him to get back and help them up. But Ryo didn't move. He was too stunned. 

After a few seconds of thrashing water about and many curse words, Kento succeeded in bringing Sage to the surface and onto the dock. Kento cursed at Ryo again and reached his hand down to search for Gabrielle. 

Ryo could only stare at Sage, coughing and shivering on the ground next to him. 

Kento finally pulled Gabrielle up onto the dock, breathing hard and shivering. He gasped and shook his hands free from the ice cold water. "Sage, Gabi... are you guys alright?" Kento got up and held out his hands to help both of them onto their feet. 

Sage struggled to stand, but he made a noise assuring Kento that he was fine. He looked down at Gabrielle, who hadn't moved from where Kento had placed her. "Gabbb-eee," Sage muttered, shaking. He rubbed her back, but she didn't respond.

Kento cursed again, "Let's get her inside."

~*~

****

Author's Note:: Hey, sorry. I know all of you are thinking, "What's with the all the mushy stuff and EVERYONE falling into the lake?!" Haha. Don't worry. I only have 2 more chapters left SO this story boils down pretty quickly. Be ready for some surprises.


	16. I will always be with you

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

-~~*~-~

Gabrielle woke up with a groan and the pounding of her headache. She squinted her light sensitive eyes around the room, seeing two dark figures. One of them said something and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Gabrielle, are you alright? Can you speak?" asked the second figure.

She squeezed her eyes shut and opened the widely, hoping she could see better. "Yeah... I think. Where am I?"

"In the hospital, Elle."

That voice. Only one person called her Elle. "Damien?" She asked, shock hindering her voice.

He squeezed her hand again, "I heard you had quite an accident,"

She released her hand from his, "What are you doing here? _Why _are you here?"

"Because I missed you, baby. I know we've had some rough times, but I thought about it over Christmas and the New Years... and well, I want to make it up to you."

Gabrielle couldn't find the words. She was too shocked, too confused, and in too much pain. 

"Gabrielle, do you remember what happened?" asked the doctor in front of her.

She shook her head clear, wanting to forget that Damien was there. "Uh, I remember that I fell into a frozen lake..." she paused, looking for more memory, but there was none. "I can't remember what happened afterwards or how I got here."

"It's okay, Elle. I'll take care of you now. I already signed the papers to release you and come home with me." Damien took her hand in his again and rubbed it. He diverted his denim blues eyes to her bright ones, but she didn't return the glance. "Elle, are you alright?"

"She's probably still a little light headed, Damien. She did have a small concussion. But she should be able to leave within the next 2-3 hours. You can wait in here or go down to the lobby at any time." With that said, the doctor scribbled one last thing on his clipboard and headed out the door.

~*~

Sage awoke when his whole body shivered. He opened his wide eyes, noticing that he had kicked all his covers off. He quickly grabbed them and pulled them to his chin, wondering how he had fallen asleep. Then he remembered. He sat up like a spring and fled out his bedroom door. 

Ryo was just sitting at the kitchen table when Sage came storming in. 

"What happened? Where's Gabrielle?"

"We had to take her to the hospital, she got cut up pretty bad and we found out that she had a small concussion. Cye and Kento already went-"

"Take me there, Ryo! Please!" Sage was jittering around, grabbing his coat and throwing on some shoes. 

"Sage, I was going to say that Cye and Kento already left to go and get her. We don't-"

"I don't CARE! I want to go there and get her myself! Why didn't anyone wake me up?!" Sage yelled back, already furious. "If you don't take me, then I'm going by myself."

Ryo sighed. Even though he didn't want to go to the hospital and pick up Sage's 'precious' Gabrielle, he did care enough and realize that Sage was in no shape or form to even touch the wheel. "Alright. Are you ready to go?"

Sage nodded and speed-walked outside, heading towards the car.

~*~

Ryo cautiously pulled into a parking space at the hospital, tired of driving in the snow and ice. But Sage was already out the door before Ryo put it in park.

"Chill out, Sage. It's not like she's going anywhere." Ryo called to Sage, who was 20 steps in front of him.

Sage didn't reply. He was already mad at Ryo for what hell he and Kento caused last night, but now he was fuming. If Ryo said one more thing to him, Sage decided that he was going to blow up.

They got inside and Sage asked the front desk what room she was in. But the nurse declared that she was already signed out. 

"Did you see her leave?" Sage asked impatiently, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Well, no, I have no idea. I know she was in room 112, but-" She didn't need to say anymore before Sage headed towards the hallway. Ryo reluctantly followed.

Cye was the first to notice Sage and Ryo coming their way. He nudged Kento. "Should we tell him what's going on or just let him go inside?"

Kento bit his lip, shrugging his shoulders, "Don't ask me. He's probably already pissed off 'cause we didn't wake him up when we left. And now..."

"Is she in there? Is she alright?" Sage asked as he came up to them, his eyes darting back and forth between the two.

"Uh," Cye cleared his throat. "Yeah, she's perfectly fine, but the doctor said we should give her time-"

"Fuck the doctor, I want to see her," Sage grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open. But his eyes confused him. There were two people in the room. Gabrielle was sitting on the bed, awake but bandaged, and the other one was a man with tousled brown hair. He didn't look familiar. "Gabrielle?" his voice cracked.

Gabrielle whipped her head around, eyes locking with his. But her look of relief did a immediate 180 to fear when Damien stood up.

"What's going on?" Sage asked, quietly. His eyes nervously shifted back and forth between Gabrielle's and the unfamiliar man.

"I'm Damien, Gabrielle's boyfriend. Who are you?"

Sage felt his heart rip in half. He caught his breath and took a step backwards. His eyes burned and all the hair on his arms stood straight up, "Gabrielle... is this true?"

Damien looked down at Gabrielle, twitching his eye, "Who is this kid?"

Gabrielle couldn't speak. She was torn. Her and Damien had been together for three long years until another girl got in the picture. She remembered their nasty break up. He had hurt her and she didn't think he cared. That's when she decided to get a new job, a new life. She remembered all the promotions she got and all the new friends she made. She remembered the Christmas party she was invited to. She remembered Sage.

"What's going on, Gabrielle?" Damien asked again, "Talk! I know you can talk!"

Gabrielle swallowed hard, "No."

"What did you say?" Damien spit out.

"I said no, it's not true." She stated, looking dead into Damien's eyes. "You and I are over. It was over five months ago, Damien."

"Just because I go out and treat my cousin's friend-"

"You cheated on me!" She cried back, "We're OVER!" she started to climb out of her bed but Damien pulled her back down.

"You're not going anywhere."

Sage saw the fear in Gabrielle's eyes. "Don't touch her-"

"Don't talk to me, you blonde-"

"Damien, STOP!" Gabrielle yelled, jumping up from her bed and moving towards Sage. Her face showed her pain as she moved, but she suppressed it. "Sage is my boyfriend now."

Damien stretched his jaw and bit his lip. "Alright, whatever." Damien coughed and walked out the room, purposely bumping into Sage on the way out.

Gabrielle smiled and jumped into Sage's arms, kissing his cheek and lips widely. "I'm so glad you came!"

Sage pushed Gabrielle down, "So can you explain what that was all about?"

Gabrielle shook her head, "It's nothing. He's my ex."

Sage turned his stern glare into a warm smile, "Good," he swooped her up into his arms and hugged her. "But I hope you're not lying."

"Sage, don't say that. I will always be with you." 

Sage froze. Those were the last words of Rowen's angel. 

Gabrielle stared into Sage's blank eyes, "Sage, are you alright?"

Sage took a broken sigh, blinking a few times and clearing his small tears. "Yeah. Let's go home."

~-~*~-~

****

Author's Note:: Well, I lied. NOW there are 2 more chapters. I was going to make this one longer, but I know some people don't like long chapters and don't have enough time... so, yeah. Anyways, thanks EVERYONE whose reviewed, these keep me confident and keep me LOVING you guys! Madd props! 


	17. One night

~Disclaimer: I don't own these sweet and innocent characters that we've all come to shape and mold like clay... but, as always, they don't belong to me. Just have fun reading and enjoy the moment. 

~*~*~

"I can't believe that tomorrow is our three month anniversary," Sage sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling and nestling his body closer to Gabrielle's. 

Gabrielle exhaled and smiled, wrapping her arms around Sage and rested her chin on his shoulder. She closed her eyes, "Seems like our three _year _anniversary to me," she whispered. 

Sage tapped Gabrielle's nose with his index finger. "We should go downstairs and see what the rest of the gang is up to today. I thought Cye said something about going to a movie later on?"

"Yeah," Gabrielle kissed his shoulder, "But that's later."

"It IS later, Gabrielle!" Sage grabbed the clock on the nightstand, "It's a quarter to two!"

She grinned, keeping her eyes closed, "It's still early."

Sage got up and straddled her, "Get up!" He leaned over her and kissed her loudly and continuously. 

Gabrielle groaned and tried to push him away, "Sage, STOP!" She tried to yell at him through her laughter, but she couldn't stop. 

"Nope! Not 'til you get up!" He continued to kiss her and make her laugh. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and heaved him off of the bed.

"Sage!" She fell on top of him with a loud '_THUMP'_. They both laughed.

"You know, sleepy-head," Sage started, kissing her on the lips, "I would rather stay in bed with you all day then go see a dumb movie."

Gabrielle smiled and bit her lip, "Me too."

"Even if all we do is sleep," Sage murmured, resting his head on her chest and closing his eyes."I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." Gabrielle stated, looking at Sage with bright eyes. "Do you want me to bring you something?"

"No, I'm going to go down anyways," Sage stood up and helped Gabrielle do the same.

~*~

Gabrielle sighed as she searched through the kitchen cupboards, finding nothing that attracted her appetite. She rolled her eyes as she heard Ryo walk into the kitchen. 

"What are you guys doing? It's two in the afternoon and you're still in your pajamas?" Ryo shook his head. 

"Ryo, shut up," Gabrielle snapped back. She stared at him through the corner of her eyes and watched as Ryo gave her the same thing. 

"Guys, stop," Sage stated, switching his glance from Ryo to Gabrielle. "Let's just make this morning nice and peaceful. We don't need to have glass broken and the neighbors calling us again."

Ryo sighed, "Whatever, Sage. Sorry," Ryo gestured to Gabrielle, showing his apologies, but no one noticed the word that slipped through his lips as he walked away. "_Bitch_."

"Sage, what are you hungry for?"

Sage waited until Ryo was out of his sight, "What are _you_ hungry for?" he asked, moving over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist. 

She turned her head and kissed him on the nose, "Pancakes."

"Pancakes?"

"Pancakes."

Sage laughed, "Alright. Where's Cye when you need him?" he replied, looking around.

"We don't need Cye. We can make them ourselves."

Sage shrugged and reached for a bowl. "Then let's don't waste anymore time..."

~*~

An hour and a half later, despite their floured faces, sticky hands, and pancake goop all over the counter, Sage and Gabrielle were finally able to sit down to their pancakes.

Sage grabbed the bottle of syrup and poured in on his plate. "I hope these were worth the mess..." he held his breath and took a bite.

Gabrielle watched with interest as Sage took the first bite. "So... are they good?" She asked, watching him chew.

Sage stopped chewing, made a disgusted face, and spit out his mouthful into his napkin. He screeched, sticking out his tongue. 

Gabrielle burst into a fit of laughter. "Are they really that bad?!"

Sage nodded his head, keeping his disgusted face. 

"So much for pancakes," she muttered, pushing aside her plate. "Now what are we going to do?" She gazed at Sage through her curious blue eyes, biting her bottom lip.

Sage stood up and stretched, "What do you want to do?"

She rolled her eyes, sighing, "Now we're back to where we started." She looked to the kitchen door when she heard the front door open and close. 

Ryo stepped in, Cye and Kento behind him. All their mouths dropped.

"My... my kitchen!" Cye exclaimed, staring at the mess. "What were you guys trying to do?"

"Make pancakes." Sage smiled sheepishly.

"We'll clean it up. Promise." Gabrielle responded, standing up and grabbing a towel.

"I'm sure." Ryo huffed, crossing his arms. "You guys don't do anything besides make messes and sleep."

"How would you know, Ryo?" Gabrielle growled back.

"Because. Sage has never been so lazy. At least since you showed up." Ryo shoved back.

"Guys, stop, please." Sage butted in, "And Ryo, that's not true."

"Whatever, Sage, whatever. You have NEVER been the same since Rowen died."

"Ryo, if one more word comes out of your mouth, I _swear_-"

"You'll what?" Ryo glared at Sage with a tease, hoping he would do something to prove him wrong. "You're not going to do anything, Sage. At least not with_ her_ here."

Sage bit his tongue, stopping the smart ass words from escaping from his lips. He hated it. And worst of all, Ryo was right.

"Ryo, why don't you mind your own business instead of always butting into ours?!" Gabrielle shouted, locking her stern glare on Ryo. "You never seemed concerned about anyone else but us."

"I'm just trying to watch out for the stupid people," he muttered.

"Stupid people? Why don't you take a look at yourself," Gabrielle shot back. "At least I'm happy. I don't need to make other people miserable to keep myself happy."

"I'm already happy! I'm happy seeing you two _try_ at a relationship! And Sage!" Ryo turned his broad chest to Sage and smirked, "I can't believe you guys have been together this long! Do you miss that one thing that you can _never_ have with Gabrielle? Huh?"

Sage's glare turned ice cold. He knew exactly what Ryo was talking about. He could feel the blood rushing to his head.

Gabrielle fused her eyebrows, "What are you talking about, Ryo?!"

"Oh. I don't need to explain it. Sage already knows exactly what I'm talking about."

"Ryo, shut up. Leave Sage and Gabrielle alone. You've already done enough damage." Cye remarked, his harsh glare demanding that Ryo leave the room.

"It's alright, Cye. Ryo's just _fucking _jealous." Gabrielle let those words sly out of her mouth like venom, speaking in a whispered rage.

"Whatever, Gabrielle. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm not staying in THIS house as long as you're dating that bitch, Sage." Ryo cracked his jaw and turned on his heel, storming towards the door. 

Sage quickly grabbed Gabrielle by the arm as she lunged forward. His severe look of anger made Gabrielle step back.

"Call me when you two break up. Or when you miss the-" Ryo slammed the door behind him.

"Sage, don't worry-"

"I don't need any fucking sympathy right now." Sage stated, a tone just before yelling. He took a huge sigh and stepped outside through the back porch. 

"Why is Ryo such an ass?!" Gabrielle shouted, squeezing her fists together. "Gods, I swear-"

"Just chill out for a second, Gabi. Ryo is hurt by you two being together for some reason," Cye broke and took a breath, "and maybe you just need to talk to him or something. Ryo is a very reasonable person to talk to, not fight with."

Gabrielle just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But from what he said, he's not going to be around here anymore since me, the bitch, is still here."

Cye sighed, "I don't know what to say anymore." He stepped out of the room and headed for the stairway.

~*~

Sage sighed and hugged his arms. A light breeze lifted the hair out of his eyes, letting the tear flow down the crease of his cheeks. His eyes followed the tree branches as they swayed in the wind, then his eyes moved towards the sun as it hung low in the sky.

"Sage?"

Sage turned around, meeting the all so familiar blue eyes of Gabrielle.

"Hey... are you okay?" she asked softly, walking towards him.

Sage nodded feebly, taking another heavy sigh and quickly wiped his face clean. "Yeah. I'm fine. I... I just- I don't know. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I can't stand him. I should've just kept my big mouth shut."

"Gabrielle," Sage started, putting his hand on her shoulder and focusing his eyes on hers, "It's not your fault... at all. Ryo is short tempered and has NO patience."

Gabrielle nodded her head and looked at the ground. "I know, Sage. But I feel.. I guess I feel responsible or something. I'm sorry I made you upset." She stepped forward and embraced him. "Especially on the day before our anniversary."

Sage cracked a smile. "It's okay, baby." Sage hugged her tighter. "And speaking of, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Let's not worry about tomorrow..." Gabrielle started. She took his hand in hers and started to pull him inside, "Let's worry about tonight."

~*~

Sage stared with new found interest as Gabrielle slowly undressed in front of him, that sly smile of hers never leaving her lips. When she was only in her underwear, she slithered on top of Sage, rubbing his bare chest. 

"I'm so glad that I met you," Sage whispered, rubbing his soft hands up and down Gabrielle's bare back. 

Gabrielle pressed her supple lips against his, "Me too." She pressed her hips into his, and then nipped at Sage's lip.

Sage inhaled through his teeth, "Gods... I can't stand it! I love your touch, Gabi." he intertwined his fingers around the straps of her underwear, digging his fingers into her skin. 

Gabrielle laughed quietly as she put her hand on top of Sage's and pulled it down, teasing him with her voice. 

Sage made a velvety groan, then pulled his head forward and kissed her full on the lips. He pulled away and stared directly into her eyes, "Gabrielle," Sage started, licking his bottom lip. "I want to keep going."

Gabrielle bit down on her bottom lip and arched an eyebrow. "You sure?" she whispered.

Sage grabbed a hold of her hips and flipped her on her back, "I'm sure."


End file.
